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(Redirected from Blikanasauridae)
Extinct genus of dinosaur from the late Triassic of South Africa
†Blikanasaurus cromptoni Galton & van Heerden, 1985
Blikanasaurus is a genus of sauropodomorphdinosaur from the late Triassic of South Africa. The generic name Blikanasaurus is derived from Greek, meaning "lizard from Blikana". The species name cromptoni is taken from the surname of A.W. "Fuzz" Crompton, an American paleontologist who led numerous field expeditions in Elliot Formation outcrop localities in South Africa. Blikanasaurus is only known from partial hindlimb bones that were recovered from the lower Elliot Formation (LEF) in the Eastern Cape.
History of discovery
Blikanasaurus was first discovered by a partial hindlimb (epipodium and pes) found in the lower Elliot Formation (LEF) at the foot of Blikana mountain in Herschel, Eastern Cape of South Africa in c. 1965. In the early 2000s, a second specimen - consisting of only a right metatarsal - was recovered from lower Elliot Formation deposits on the farm, Damplaats, in Ladybrand of the eastern Free State. A possible ilium that has been attributed to Blikanasaurus was found recently, although its attribution to Blikanasaurus remains to be confirmed.
Description
As the two known Blikanasaurus specimens are extremely incomplete, very little is understood of this sauropodomorphtaxon. The only information that has been deduced is from the bones of its hindlimb anatomy, which are heavily built. This suggests that Blikanasaurus was thickly set and robust.
Classification
Due to its robust build, Blikanasaurus is hypothesized to have been an obligate quadruped, unlike what is characteristic of more basalsauropodomorphs. Due to this feature, Blikanasaurus was thought initially to be a basalsauropod. Blikanasaurus is now considered to be a basalsauropodomorph; however, due to the lack of complete specimens, little remains known about this enigmatic taxon. Some paleontologists claimed a case to group Blikanasaurus within the familyBlikanasauridae, a family named by Galton and van Heerden in 1985, however, this family has not been formally accepted due to it lacking definitive taxa. The cladogram below displays the currently accepted systematics between Blikanasaurus and other sauropodomorphs.
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Galton, Peter M.; Van Heerden, Jacques (1985). "Partial hindlimb of Blikanasaurus cromptoni n. gen. And n. Sp.,representing a new family of prosauropod dinosaurs from the upper triassic of South Africa". Geobios. 18 (4): 509–516. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(85)80003-6.
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