Aardonyx
Aardonyx
- Pronunciation:
- ar-don-ix
- Name meaning:
- 'Earth claw'
- Type of dinosaur:
- prosauropod
- Length:
- 8.0m
- Diet:
- herbivorous
- When it lived:
- Early Jurassic, 199-189 million years ago
- Found in:
- South Africa
Aardonyx is known from two immature individuals. Adults would have been much larger, probably over 10m.
Aardonyx would have been largely bipedal (walking on two legs) but also capable of walking on all four legs. This and its way of feeding are transitional features between those of basal sauropodomorphs and the more derived sauropods (large dinosaurs that walked on all fours) that came later.
Taxonomic details
- Taxonomy:
- Dinosauria, Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Prosauropoda, Anchisauria
- Named by:
- Yates, Bonnan, Neveling, Chinsamy and Blackbeard 2010 (2009)
- Type species:
- celestae
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