The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot 
Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of 
Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary

McPhee, Blair W.; Bordy, Emese M.; Sciscio, Lara; Choiniere, Jonah N.

doi:10.4202/app.00377.2017

Cited by 48 publications

(51 citation statements)

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“…Pneumatic cervical and dorsal neural arches indicating an avianlike invasion of the axial skeleton by the respiratory system, few muscle-and leverage-related modifications, including high neural arches and an apomorphic femur, and elongated proportions of the forelimb (ulna/humerus) and hindlimb elements (tibia/ femur) probably represented key elements in the mosaic of features that allowed the first pulse of gigantism in dinosaurs during the Triassic. However, this unique growth strategy and body plan of lessemsaurids continued only up to the Early Jurassic when the most recent members are recorded 47 , after which the eusauropod growth strategy and biomechanical design prevailed among Sauropodomorpha to subsequently evolve into the largest land animals in the history of life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An early trend towards gigantism in Triassic sauropodomorph dinosaurs

et al. 2018

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Dinosaurs dominated the terrestrial ecosystems for more than 140 Myr during the Mesozoic era, and among them were sauropodomorphs, the largest land animals recorded in the history of life. Early sauropodomorphs were small bipeds, and it was long believed that acquisition of giant body size in this clade (over 10 tonnes) occurred during the Jurassic and was linked to numerous skeletal modifications present in Eusauropoda. Although the origin of gigantism in sauropodomorphs was a pivotal stage in the history of dinosaurs, an incomplete fossil record obscures details of this crucial evolutionary change. Here, we describe a new sauropodomorph from the Late Triassic of Argentina nested within a clade of other non-eusauropods from southwest Pangaea. Members of this clade attained large body size while maintaining a plesiomorphic cyclical growth pattern, displaying many features of the body plan of basal sauropodomorphs and lacking most anatomical traits previously regarded as adaptations to gigantism. This novel strategy highlights a highly accelerated growth rate, an improved avian-style respiratory system, and modifications of the vertebral epaxial musculature and hindlimbs as critical to the evolution of gigantism. This reveals that the first pulse towards gigantism in dinosaurs occurred over 30 Myr before the appearance of the first eusauropods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An early trend towards gigantism in Triassic sauropodomorph dinosaurs

et al. 2018

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“…The rich ichnofauna of the lower Elliot Formation of western Lesotho includes many quadrupedal sauropodomorph trackways that predate Ledumahadi. These were assigned a Late Triassic age by Ellenberger [29], which has been upheld by our ongoing bio-and chronostratigraphic work [30,31]. Interestingly, when first described these tracks were presented as evidence for the early occurrence of sauropods [29].…”

Section: Quadrupedality In Sauropodomorph Dinosaursmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Giant Dinosaur from the Earliest Jurassic of South Africa and the Transition to Quadrupedality in Early Sauropodomorphs

et al. 2018

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“…Melanorosaurus was treated as two separate OTUs (NMQR 3314 and NMQR 1551) as per McPhee et al (2017); and scorings for Riojasaurus were restricted to information available within the holotype [PVL 3808 (Bonaparte, 1971); B.W.M., pers. observ.].…”

Section: Discussion Phylogenetic Analyses and The Interrelationships mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(1) the validity of Melanorosaurs is currently in serious doubt (McPhee et al, 2015b(McPhee et al, , 2017 and (2) the sauropodan affinity of several taxa hypothesized to be more derived than Melanorosaurus (e.g. Antetonitrus) has been questioned on the grounds of both discrete character information and inferred locomotory specializations (Carrano, 2005;Wilson, 2005b;McPhee et al, 2014McPhee et al, , 2015a.…”

Section: Sauropoda: Definition and Diagnosismentioning

confidence: 99%

The osteology of Pulanesaura eocollum: implications for the inclusivity of Sauropoda (Dinosauria)

McPhee

Choiniere

2017

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

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We present the complete osteology of the putative basal sauropod Pulanesaura eocollum. Current phylogenetic hypotheses suggest that Pulanesaura is the sister taxon of Vulcanodon + other sauropods, a position supported primarily by derived features of its axial skeleton and forelimb. A question of nontrivial importance is therefore the relative position of Pulanesaura with respect to current higher taxonomic groupings within Sauropodomorpha. The most recently proposed cladistic definition of Sauropoda (the most inclusive clade not including Melanorosaurus) places Pulanesaura as an unambiguous sauropod, whereas another commonly cited definition (the least inclusive clade containing Vulcanodon and Saltasaurus) suggests it is the most proximate sauropod outgroup. In addition to the issues pertaining to the validity of Melanorosaurus, we highlight a suite of features that can be shown to unambiguously and exclusively co-occur at the base of Sauropoda sensu the latter definition, arguing in favour of its continued use. As a corollary to this interpretation, we suggest that, instead of being simple diagnostic artefacts, (complex) apomorphies remain valid signifiers of notable phylogenetic loci whose contribution to our current classificatory schemes remains underexploited.

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The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: Tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary

Abstract: The latest Triassic is notable for coinciding with the dramatic decline of many previously dominant groups, followed by the rapid radiation of Dinosauria in the Early

Cited by 48 publications

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An early trend towards gigantism in Triassic sauropodomorph dinosaurs

An early trend towards gigantism in Triassic sauropodomorph dinosaurs

A Giant Dinosaur from the Earliest Jurassic of South Africa and the Transition to Quadrupedality in Early Sauropodomorphs

The osteology of Pulanesaura eocollum: implications for the inclusivity of Sauropoda (Dinosauria)

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