Sarahsaurus

Name: Sarahsaurus ‭(‬Sarah’s lizard‭)‬.
Phonetic: Sah-rah-sore-us.
Named By: Timothy B.‭ ‬Rowe,‭ ‬Hans-Dieter Sues‭ & ‬Robert R.‭ ‬Reisz‭ ‬-‭ ‬2011.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Sauropodomorpha,‭ ‬Massopoda.
Species: S.‭ ‬aurifontanalis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Around‭ ‬4.3‭ ‬meters long.
Known locations: USA‭ ‬-‭ ‬Arizona‭ ‬-‭ ‬Kayenta Formation.
Time period: Sinemurian to Pliensbachian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Few specimens including post cranial Skelton of varying degrees of preservation,‭ ‬and a partial skull.

       Sarahsaurus is currently one of the few known basal sauropodomorphs from North America,‭ ‬with other genera including Anchisaurus and Seitaad.‭ ‬The sauropodomorphs were the forerunners to the later giant sauropods that would become dominant as the Jurassic era progressed on.‭ ‬As a basal sauropodomorph,‭ ‬Sarahsaurus is thought to have been a plant eating dinosaur that could move about in either bipedal‭ (‬two legged‭) ‬or quadrupedal‭ (‬four legged‭) ‬postures,‭ ‬probably switching between them in order to facilitate such activities as feeding,‭ ‬drinking and walking.‭ ‬At a little over four meters long Sarahsaurus is one of the larger dinosaurs currently known from the Kayenta Formation.‭ ‬However Sarahsaurus may have still been prey to the meat eating dinosaur Dilophosaurus,‭ ‬one of the largest known predators of Early Jurassic North America,‭ ‬fossils for which have also been found in the Kayenta Formation.
       The genus name Sarahsaurus is in honour of Sarah Butler.‭ ‬The species name means‭ ‘‬gold of the spring‭’ ‬after Gold Spring,‭ ‬Arizona where the holotype fossils were found.

Further reading
- Dispersal and diversity in the earliest North American sauropodomorph dinosaurs, with a description of a new taxon. - Timothy B. Rowe, Hans-Dieter Sues & Robert R. Reisz - 2011.
- Anatomy and systematics of the sauropodomorph Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation. - Plos One - Adam D. Marsh & Timothy B. Rowe - 2018.

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