#musankwa

[totaldino]

Musankwa

Musankwa is a basal sauropodomorph, or prosauropod, and was likely omnivorous, representing an evolutionary transition between early saurischians and the large herbivorous sauropods. Like many other prosauropods, Musankwa was an obligate biped, walking only on two legs. It grew to about 4 m in length, and weighed upwards of 400 kg.

[neovenatorgirlteeth]

DINOVEMBER 2/13: Musankwa sanyatiensis

No.2, finally. On the 7th. This is why I didn't give myself one every day folks.

This sauropodomorph was discovered near the top of Zimbabwe's Pebbly Arkose formation, dating back to around 225Ma ago. The description of the specimen, a partial leg bone, was published in May of this year by Barrett et al. It's nothing too special morphology and phylogeny wise, falling slap bang halfway between the most basal sauropodomorphs (like its compatriot Mbiresaurus) and the sauropods proper. It doesn't appear to be particularly large or small for a "prosauropod", but it's nice to have another Triassic species and an addition to the poorly studied palaeofauna of Africa. Even if the lead scientist on the paper was one of the European scientists working on the specimen and not the Zimbabwean ones. A bit yikes.

I decided to give this male some neck quills, I love a sauropodomorph neck quill, and a funky throat patch as well. I also tried to give him a dynamic pose but it didn't work out for me, so I did a more standard side shot.

[fishsfailureson]

The recently named sauropodomorph Musankwa standing underneath a stand of trees during a rainstorm.