Temporal range: Sinemurian-Pliensbachian, 199–188 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Skeletal diagram showing the known remains
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:
†Sauropoda
Clade:
†Gravisauria
Family:
†Vulcanodontidae
Genus:
†Vulcanodon Raath, 1972
Type species
†Vulcanodon karibaensis
Raath, 1972
Vulcanodon (meaning "volcano tooth") is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. The only known species is V. karibaensis. Discovered in 1969 in Zimbabwe, it was regarded as the earliest-known sauropod for decades, and is still one of the most primitive sauropods that has been discovered. As a quadrupedal, ground-dwelling herbivore, Vulcanodon already showed the typical sauropod body plan with column-like legs and a long neck and tail. It was smaller than most other sauropods, measuring approximately eleven metres (36 ft) in length. Vulcanodon is known from a fragmentary skeleton including much of the pelvic girdle, hindlimbs, forearms, and tail, but lacking the trunk and neck vertebrae as well as the skull.
Originally, this genus was believed to be a prosauropod because of the knife-shaped teeth found near its fossils, which fit in with the idea that prosauropods were omnivorous. Scientists now know that the teeth belonged to an unidentified theropod that may have scavenged on the Vulcanodon carcass. Vulcanodon is now known to be a true sauropod. Upon the discovery of the related Tazoudasaurus, both animals were unified in the family Vulcanodontidae, though this has not been universally accepted.
Vulcanodon (meaning "volcano tooth") is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. The only known species is V....
Shunosaurus, and possibly Barapasaurus, and Amygdalodon, but excluding Vulcanodon and Rhoetosaurus. The Eusauropoda was coined in 1995 by Paul Upchurch...
noted. Since 1984, Barapasaurus was united with another early sauropod, Vulcanodon, in a family called Vulcanodontidae, although this family was declared...
of the prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus and the primitive sauropod Vulcanodon have been recovered from the Forest Sandstone. The formation is a sedimentary...
Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs Zizhongosaurus, Barapasaurus, Tazoudasaurus, and Vulcanodon may form a natural group of basal sauropods called the Vulcanodontidae...
polish their drills. Flynt (voiced by Eric Bauza) is a Hydrodon - half Vulcanodon and half fire truck. He once tried to save a herd of Craneosaurs from...
vertebrae. The caudals lack the deep groove in the ventral surface seen in Vulcanodon. The coracoid is massive with an oval outline, lacking the glenoid notch...
bones (though it is not clear if the most primitive sauropods, such as Vulcanodon and Barapasaurus, had such forefeet). The front feet were so modified...
appeared during the Early Jurassic, with the oldest definitive record being Vulcanodon from Zimbabwe, likely of Sinemurian age. Eusauropods first appeared during...
after the divergence of Vulcanodon due to the presence of mesaxony in the genus. However, the presence of mesaxony in Vulcanodon can be now considered an...
PMC 5417094. PMID 28480136. Cooper, Michael R. (1984). "A reassessment of Vulcanodon karibaensis Raath (Dinosauria: Saurischia) and the origin of the Sauropoda"...
from any other sauropod, more closely resembling basal sauropods such as Vulcanodon than other neosauropods. The haemal arches are also unusual, bearing two...
predominantly sandstones and basalts. Specimens of Vulcanodon karibaensis have been found in the Vulcanodon beds within the Batoka basalt. None current or...
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