Massospondylus

Massospondylus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. It was described by Richard Owen in 1854 from remains discovered in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named. The name Massospondylus means 'longer vertebra', alluding to what Owen identified as tail vertebrae; these vertebrae are now known to be from the neck. Although the original fossils were destroyed in London during The Blitz, a plethora of specimens have since been assigned to the genus, making it one of the best-known sauropodomorphs from the Early Jurassic. The genus lived during the Hettangian, Sinemurian, and Pliensbachian ages, which lasted from ca. 201 to 184 million years ago. Most fossils come from the upper Elliot and Clarens formations of South Africa and Lesotho, but the genus is also found in the Forest Sandstone and the Mpandi Formation of Zimbabwe. Material from the US, India, and Argentina was previously assigned to the genus, but the US and Argentinian specimens are now assigned to their own genera. Because of their great abundance, Massospondylus fossils have been used to date rocks, and a biozone, the Massospondylus Range Zone, is named after the genus.

A picture published with the record for Massospondylus.

Paul M. Barrett1, Kimberley E.J. Chapelle, Casey K. Staunton, Jennifer Botha & Jonah N. Choiniere · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MassospondylidaePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Diapsida
Length
4 mWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 34 million years on record.

The record covers at least 227.3 Mya to 192.9 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 237 Mya to 174.7 Mya.

Middle Triassic — about 0 of 80 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 3 of 80 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 77 of 80 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 0 of 80 occurrences238–236 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences236–234 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences234–232 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences232–230 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences230–227 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences227–225 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences225–223 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences223–221 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences221–219 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences219–217 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences217–214 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences214–212 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences212–210 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences210–208 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences208–206 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences206–204 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences204–202 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences202–199 Mya — about 16 occurrences199–197 Mya — about 17 occurrences197–195 Mya — about 17 occurrences195–193 Mya — about 17 occurrences193–191 Mya — about 2 occurrences191–189 Mya — about 2 occurrences189–186 Mya — about 2 occurrences186–184 Mya — about 2 occurrences184–182 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences182–180 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences180–178 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences178–176 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences176–173 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences227.3 Mya192.9 Mya238 Mya173 Mya

80 occurrences of Massospondylus on record, most of them in the Early Jurassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

80 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

8 formations

Elliot — 28.51°S, 28.62°EElliot — 28.52°S, 29.17°EElliot — 30.57°S, 27.43°EElliot — 29.50°S, 27.45°EElliot — 28.98°S, 27.37°EElliot — 30.60°S, 27.62°EElliot — 29.22°S, 27.34°EElliot — 31.15°S, 26.62°EElliot — 29.13°S, 27.37°EElliot — 29.13°S, 27.33°EElliot — 30.81°S, 27.72°EElliot — 30.62°S, 27.80°EElliot — 28.68°S, 28.32°EElliot — 28.68°S, 28.17°EElliot — 28.55°S, 27.95°EElliot — 28.55°S, 28.38°EElliot — 28.42°S, 28.50°EElliot — 28.53°S, 28.50°EElliot — 28.62°S, 28.27°EElliot — 28.78°S, 27.23°EElliot — 28.87°S, 27.27°EElliot — 28.90°S, 27.57°EElliot — 28.97°S, 27.32°EElliot — 29.03°S, 27.48°EElliot — 29.07°S, 27.50°EElliot — 29.23°S, 27.35°EMpandi — 22.14°S, 29.51°EMpandi — 22.17°S, 29.49°EMpandi — 22.14°S, 29.56°EForest Sandstone — 19.89°S, 28.92°EForest Sandstone — 19.97°S, 28.40°EForest Sandstone — 19.98°S, 28.47°EForest Sandstone — 22.14°S, 29.57°EClarens — 29.20°S, 27.45°EClarens — 28.52°S, 27.93°EClarens — 30.83°S, 27.75°EClarens — 28.53°S, 28.50°EElliot — 30.40°S, 27.52°EElliot — 30.08°S, 28.47°EElliot — 29.85°S, 27.36°EElliot — 29.85°S, 27.27°EUpper Karroo Sandstone — 16.23°S, 30.10°EEtjo — 20.39°S, 17.33°EPebbly Arkose — 16.73°S, 28.69°E

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The named rock units Massospondylus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Massospondylus and its relatives

Early Jurassic

Where Massospondylus and its relatives were recorded in the Early Jurassic.

Found in the same rock

27 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 78 sites for Massospondylus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

22 references

Each of the 80 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 10 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Massospondylus

Credit
Paul M. Barrett1, Kimberley E.J. Chapelle, Casey K. Staunton, Jennifer Botha & Jonah N. Choiniere
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Massospondylus carinatus · bp:1:5241

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
PaleoMari
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMassospondylidae through timeFormations of the Early JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Owen 1854