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The Massopoda were a clade of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Mesozoic Era. The name Massopoda was first coined by paleontologist Adam Yates of the University of the Witwatersrand in 2006. The name has not been used by other authors.
In 2007, Yates assigned the Massopoda to Plateosauria. Within the clade, he assigned the families Massospondylidae (which includes the relatively well-known dinosaur Massospondylus) and Riojasauridae (which includes Riojasaurus). He defined the Massopoda as all sauropodomorphs closer to Saltasaurus than Plateosaurus. Basal sauropodomorph systematics continue to undergo revision, and it remains to be seen if the Massopoda name will be used by other authors.
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Basal sauropodomorph phylogeny simplified after Yates, 2007. This is only one of many proposed cladograms for basal sauropodomorphs.
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[edit] References
- Yates, Adam M. (2006). "Solving a dinosaurian puzzle: the identity of Aliwalia rex Galton. Historical Biology", p. 1-30.
- Yates, Adam M. (2007). "The first complete skull of the Triassic dinosaur Melanorosaurus Haughton (Sauropodomorpha: Anchisauria)", in Barrett, Paul M. & Batten, David J., Special Papers in Palaeontology, vol. 77, p. 9–55, ISBN 9781405169332
