Lessemsauridae

Lessemsaurids Temporal range: Late Triassic-Early Jurassic, 215–190 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeletal mount of Lessemsaurus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Lessemsauridae Apaldetti et al., 2018
Genera
†Antetonitrus †Ingentia †Ledumahadi †Lessemsaurus

Lessemsauridae is a clade of early sauropod dinosaurs that lived in the Triassic and Jurassic of Argentina and South Africa.

The phylogenetic analysis performed by Apaldetti and colleagues is shown below:^[1]

Sauropodiformes	Mussaurus Aardonyx Sefapanosaurus Melanorosauridae Camelotia Melanorosaurus Sauropoda Lessemsauridae Antetonitrus Ingentia Lessemsaurus Blikanasaurus Gongxianosaurus Pulanesaura Gravisauria

Species

Antetonitrus

someone please add info for antetonitrus

Ingentia

Not to be confused with the nematode Ingenia

Ingentia is an early sauropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic of Argentina. The type specimen of Ingentia, PVSJ 1086, was discovered in the Quebrada del Barro Formation of northwestern Argentina. The only species, Ingentia prima, meaning "first huge one", as the taxon was one of the first very large sauropodomorphs to evolve, along with its close relative Lessemsaurus. A second specimen, PVSJ 1087, was referred, containing five tail vertebrae, both the radius and ulna, a left calfbone and a right foot.

Ledumahadi

Ledumahadi

Ledumahadi (meaning "a giant thunderclap" in Sesotho language) is a sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. A quadruped, it was one of the first giant sauropodomorphs, reaching a weight of around 12 tonnes (26,000 lb), despite not having evolved columnar limbs like its later huge relatives.^[2]

Lessemsaurus

Lessemsaurus Temporal range: Norian ~228–208.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Lessemsauridae
Genus:	†Lessemsaurus Bonaparte 1999
Species:	†L. sauropoides
Binomial name
Lessemsaurus sauropoides Bonaparte 1999

Exhibit in Singapore

Lessemsaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Triassic period. It is unusual because it lived about 30 million years before the long-necked plant-eaters Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus lived.

The type species, L. sauropoides, was formally described by José Bonaparte in 1999. It was found in the Los Colorados Formation of La Rioja Province, Argentina.^[3]

This dinosaur was around 9 metres (30 ft) long and was discovered in strata dating to the Norian stage, around 210 million years ago.^[4][5][6]

Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh said:

"What is really unexpected is that the lessemsaurids achieved their huge bodies independently of the gigantic sauropods like Brontosaurus and Diplodocus, which did indeed evolve later during the Jurassic. The development of huge size wasn't just a one-off event for the sauropods, but rather different types of dinosaurs were able to become colossal".^[7]

References

1. Apaldetti, Cecilia; Martínez, Ricardo N.; Cerda, Ignatio A.; Pol, Diego; Alcober, Oscar (2018). "An early trend towards gigantism in Triassic sauropodomorph dinosaurs". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 2 (8): 1227–1232. doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0599-y. hdl:11336/89332. PMID 29988169. S2CID 49669597.
2. McPhee, Blair W.; Benson, Roger B.J.; Botha-Brink, Jennifer; Bordy, Emese M. & Choiniere, Jonah N. (2018). "A giant dinosaur from the earliest Jurassic of South Africa and the transition to quadrupedality in early sauropodomorphs". Current Biology. 28 (19): 3143–3151.e7. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.063. PMID 30270189. S2CID 52890502.
3. Weishampel, David B; et al., 2004. "Dinosaur distribution (Late Triassic, South America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 527–528. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
4. Bonaparte, J. F. (1999). "Evolución de las vértebras presacras en Sauropodomorpha". Ameghiniana. 36: 115–187.
5. Pol, D.; Powell, J. E. (2007). "New information on Lessemsaurus sauropoides (Dinosauria: Sauropodomorpha) from the Upper Triassic of Argentina". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 77: 223–243.
6. Apaldetti; Martínez, Ricardo N.; Cerda, Ignatio A.; Pol, Diego; Alcober, Oscar (2018). "An early trend towards gigantism in Triassic sauropodomorph dinosaurs". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 2 (8): 1227–1232. doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0599-y. hdl:11336/89332. PMID 29988169. S2CID 49669597.
7. BBC News Science & Environment