Euskelosaurus

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iEuskelosaurus
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Sauropodomorpha Infraorder: Prosauropoda Family: Plateosauridae Genus: Euskelosaurus Species: E. browni
Binomial name
Euskelosaurus browni Huxley, 1866

Euskelosaurus ("good leg lizard") was a semi-bipedal dinosaur from the Late Triassic. It was a prosauropod that lived in the Late Triassic Period, in present-day South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. It was first described by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1866 based on limb and spinal bones. It may actually be the same animal as Plateosauravus also found in southern Africa.

It has been estimated to have been about 9 metres in length and to have stood 3 metres high, which is somewhat large for a prosauropod. Another distinguishing feature of Euskelosaurus is that the shaft of its thigh bone is twisted. A scientist named Jacques van Heerden has suggested that this configuration effectively rendered Euskelosaurus bow-legged. If this is correct it is highly unusual for a dinosaur, as dinosaur legs are typically oriented directly under the body like in mammals

[edit] References

• http://www.users.qwest.net/~jstweet1/sauropodomorpha.htm