Stormbergia

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Stormbergia
Fossil range: Early Jurassic

Extinct (fossil)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Genus:	Stormbergia Richard Butler, 2005

Species

S. dangershoeki

Stormbergia is a genus of early ornithischian dinosaur known from the upper Elliot Formation (Early Jurassic: Hettangian-Sinemurian) of South Africa and Lesotho, named by Richard Butler in 2005. The generic name is based upon the 'Stormberg Series' of rocks in southern Africa, which includes the Clarens, Elliot and Molteno Formations, and has yielded substantial information on early dinosaur evolution. Only one species, S. dangershoeki, has been named. The specific name is based upon the location (Dangerhoek Farm) in South Africa at which the holotype specimen was found. The holotype and referred specimens of Stormbergia had been mentioned in the scientific literature as a 'large fabrosaurid' for at least 20 years prior to description. Only postcranial material of Stormbergia is currently known, and details of the postcranial anatomy suggest that this dinosaur was a basal member of the clade Genasauria, although the relationships of early ornithischian dinosaurs are currently in a state of flux.

[edit] References

R. J. Butler. 2005. The 'fabrosaurid' ornithischian dinosaurs of the Upper Elliot Formation (Lower Jurassic) of South Africa and Lesotho. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145(2):175-218