Mussaurus
Name: Mussaurus
(Mouse lizard).
Phonetic: Mus-sore-us.
Named By: J. F. Bonaparte & M.
Vince - 1979.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Prosauropoda.
Species: M. patagonicus
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: First juveniles ranged between 20 and
37 centimetres long. Adult specimens now known and the estimated
adult size is 63 meters.
Known locations: Argentina, Santa Cruz Province
- El Tranquilo Formation.
Time period: Norian/Rhaetian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Initially only known from
juveniles, adult specimens are now also know.
When
first described in 1979, Mussaurus was only
known from juvenile
individuals, and until 2013 this was supposedly the case.
However in 1980 the adult were actually described, they had just
been classed under the genus Plateosaurus.
With a re-evaluation of
these in 2013, Mussaurus is also known from
adult remains, and
the adult size of this sauropodomorph
dinosaur is estimated to be about
three meters. Prior to this discovery the genus Coloradisaurus
was
speculated as being the possible adult form.
As
a sauropodomorph dinosaur, living in the late Triassic, Mussaurus
is thought to have been primarily if not exclusively an eater of
plants. The skulls of juveniles are noted as being shorter but higher
in proportion than adults with larger than usual orbits (eye
sockets). These are common juvenile features of dinosaurs, and
they reflect how the skeleton of juveniles had to form in order to fit
inside the eggs as the embryos developed.
Mussaurus
represents a possible transitional form that links sauropodomorphs with
sauropods.
Further reading
- El hallazgo del primer nido de dinosaurios triasicos,
(Saurischia, Prosauropoda), Triasico Superior de Patagonia,
Argentina [The discovery of the first nest of Triassic dinosaurs
(Saurischia, Prosauropoda,) from the Upper Triassic of Patagonia,
Argentina.] - J. F. Bonaparte & M. Vince - 1979.
- Postcranial anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Mussaurus
patagonicus (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha). -
Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 33 (5): 1138. - A. Otero
& D. Pol - 2013.
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