Glacialisaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur. It lived during the Pliensbachian stage of the Early Jurassic period around 186 to 182 million years ago in what is now the central region of the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica. It is known from two specimens; the holotype (name-bearing specimen), a partial tarsus (ankle) and metatarsus, and a partial left femur. The fossils were collected by a team led by paleontologist William R. Hammer during a 1990–91 field expedition to the Hanson Formation of Antarctica. They were described in 2007, and made the basis of the new genus and species Glacialisaurus hammeri. The genus name translates as “icy” or "frozen lizard”, and the species name honors Hammer.
This dinosaur has been classified as a massospondylid, a group of medium-sized, basal (early diverging or "primitive") sauropodomorphs that existed during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic on every continent except Australia. Its length has been estimated at 6.2 m (20 ft). Glacialisaurus was a large herbivorous dinosaur, though it was average sized for a massospondylid. Glacialisaurus was distinct from other sauropodomorphs in features such as having a robust medial epicondylar ridge on the lower femur, a robust adductor ridge extending from the upper end of the femoral medial condyle, and a second metatarsal with a front border that is weakly convex in the upper end.
at 6.2 m (20 ft). Glacialisaurus was a large herbivorous dinosaur, though it was average sized for a massospondylid. Glacialisaurus was distinct from...
even found partial remains of a large sauropod plant-eating dinosaur. Glacialisaurus hammeri, an herbivorous dinosaur thought to be around 25 feet (7.6 m)...
present, though only a few Antarctic dinosaur genera (Cryolophosaurus and Glacialisaurus, from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains...
Berlin Tithonian Tendaguru Formation, Tanzania Majority of the skeleton Glacialisaurus hammeri FMNH PR1823 Field Museum of Natural History Pliensbachian Hanson...
colleagues in November 2011, found Adeopapposaurus, Coloradisaurus, Glacialisaurus, Massospondylus, Leyesaurus and Lufengosaurus to be massospondylids...
Global Information
