Vulcanodon karibaensis Raath 1972
Vulcanodon beds, Mashonaland North, Zimbabwe
Partial skeleton 6 meters long, missing neck and head
Estimated total length around 8 metres; Weight several tonnes
Lifestyle: Very large terrestrial herbivore
Vulcanodon is the most primitive known sauropod dinosaur, and retains a number of prosauropod features. Yet some of the characteristics of the skeleton, such as the pubis, are anatomically more advanced than in larger and later sauropods like Barapasaurus. This is a good example of what is called "mosaic" evolution, the presence of both primitive and advanced characteristics within transitional organisms (Archaeopteryx is a good example of this, displaying both theropod ("prmitive") and bird ('advanced") characteristics.)
Somewhat contradictory dates have been given for the "Vulcanodon Beds". Although reported from the earliest Jurassic, close to the Triassic boundary (i.e. early Hettangian), pollen analysis indicates a date no older than the Sinemurian, and possibly younger [Paul E. Olsen & H-D Sues, "The Triassic-Jurassic tetrapod transition", p.329 n.; in The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs, ed. K.Padian]. I have tentatively dated Vulcanodon as Sinemurian. In any case it seems that the Vulcanodontids and their descendents quickly supplanted the Plateosaurs as large terrestrial herbivores, althogh smaller prosauropods continued up until the Toarcian.
Kunmingosaurus wudingensis Zhao, 1985
nearly complete skeleton
Overall length: 6 metres
Chinshakiangosaurus zhongheensis Yeh, 1975
Overall length: ?12 - ?13 metres
Reference is made to a sauropod dinosaur from the Wudin basin in Yunnan, China. Although the horizon is thought equivalent to the adjacent famous prosauropod-dominated Lower Lufeng formation (Hettangian), there is no evidence for sauropods in the Lufeng beds [A.L.Sun and K.H.Cui, "The Lower Lufeng Saurischian fauna", p.278, and Peter M. Galton, "Herbivorous adaptions of dinosaurs, p.208; in The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs, ed. K.Padian] and it is likely that Kunmingosaurus and Chinshakiangosaurus comes from a later period, perhaps close in time to Vulcanodon. A Sinemurian age is tentatively suggested. (The Dinosauricon entry for Chinshakiangosaurus has the date as late Jurassic, but this is most probably an error.)
Damalosaurus spp. Zhao 1983
Yet another brief reference to a far-east Asian early Jurassic sauropod, this one from Tibet [Peter M. Galton, "Herbivorous adaptions of dinosaurs, p.208; in The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs, ed. K.Padian]. As the Sinemurian Scelidosaurus also has been supposedly reported from Tibet [unfortunately my only reference here is David Lambert's Field Guide to Dinosaurs], these two may possibly have been contemporary. Mike Keesey [Damalasaurus page] gives the age as Middle Jurassic, the locality as China (tsk tsk!), and suggests this genus may possibly be a Brachiosaur. Of course it might also be a distinct lineage of primitive sauropod.
D. laticostalis Zhao, 1985
Both these species are now considered invalid [nomen nudum].
Zizhongosaurus chuanchengensis Dong, Zhou, and Zhang 1983
Da'znzhai Formation, Sichuan, China
estimated length: 9 meters
The Dinosauria, p.78
Zizhongosaurus page [Dinosauricon]
Ohmdenosaurus liasicus Wild, 1978
Posidonienschiefer, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Age: Middle Toarcian
Estimated overall length: 4 metres
This very small, primitive sauropod is known only from a single limb bone, once thought to belong to a plesiosaur. Although classified under the family Vulcanodontidae it may instead belong to a distinct group, which might be called family Ohmdenosauridae. It had no clear descendents, and may have been one of the many types of dinosaur that were wiped out by the terminal Toarcian extinction event.
Barapasaurus tagorei Jain, Kutty, Roy-Chowdhury, & Chatterjee,
Kota Formation, Andhra Pradesh, India
Length: 14.5 to 18 metres; Weight: 13 to 25 tonnes
Remains of 6 partial skeletons (missing skull & feet)
The first of the really big sauropods, Baraposaurus equalled in size the giants of the later Jurassic. In structure however it was much more primitive, resembling Vulcanodon in many features of the skeleton. As befits its transitional nature, it is sometimes included under the Vulcanodontidae, sometimes under the Cetiosauridae, and sometimes in its own family. Barapasaurus is another example of "mosaic evolution" among transitional forms. According to the Argentine palaeontologist Jose Bonaparte the dorsal vertebrae of Barapasaurus are of the standard Cetiosaur grade, with a tall neural arch and zygapophyses far above the neural canal; much more advanced the vertebrae of Vulcanodon.
Jose Bonaparte, 1986, "The early radiation and phylogenetic relationships of the Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs, based on vertebral anatomy", in The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs, ed. K.Padian]
Kotasaurus yamanpalliensis Yadagiri, 1988
Kota Formation, Andhra Pradesh, India
Length: 6 metres
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page historypage uploaded 22 November 1998