#lessemsaurus

Melanorosaurus readi is a massive basal sauropodomorph known from the Lower Elliot Formation (Late Triassic of South Africa). Many bones of South African sauropodomorphs have been attributed to this taxon, but some of them may belong to other animals. For example, the skull described in 2007 comes from the Early Jurassic Upper Elliot formation, so its attribution to Melanorosaurus is questionable. This year, a re-description of the taxon and clarification of the ownership of its remains were published: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/1 … Melanorosaurus reached a length of 8 m. The massive bones of the limbs indicate the four-legged nature of this animal. It belongs to the Sauropodiformes group, from which the true sauropods descended.

So far so good, thank you :) though at some point I need to stop passing out dinosaurs and do my stupid museum conservation homework >_<

Day 7: Lessemsaurus, "Lessem Lizard"

Named after the popular science book author, Don Lessem; this sauropodomorph ("long-necked" dinosaurs and their ancestors) was a 30 ft herbivorous dinosaur that lived in Triassic Argentina. Yes, those gnashy looking chompers were for plants, not flesh!

Source: moonofthestrawberries! She posts a lot of fun stuff on her tumblr, including fandoms, cute animals, and other sorts of funny things. She is also an artist and has drawn a lot of cool illustrations of different fandoms such as Lilo and Stitch and Pokemon, so definitely worth checking out (plus her Lessemsaurus is absolutely gorgeous, as you can see!) 

Name: Lessemsaurus sauropoides

Name Meaning: Lessem’s Lizard

First Described: 1999

Described By: Bonaparte

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Plateosauria, Massopoda, Sauropodiformes, Anchisauria, Melanorosauridae

Lessemsaurus was a sauropodomorph from the Los Colorados Formation of La Rioja Province, Argentina. It lived in the Norian age of the Late Triassic, aroudn 210 million years ago. It lived surprisingly early for a relatively advanced sauropodomorph, though we only know it from a few vertebrae. It was about 9.1 meters long, and had tall neural spines on the vertebrae which may have supported a fleshy or fatty ridge that ran down the back of the animal. It lived alongside Riojasaurus, Coloradisaurus, and Zupaysaurus. 

Sources: 

http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/l/lessemsaurus.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessemsaurus

Shout out goes to ouchkabibble!

The Lessem's lizard, Lessemsaurus (1999)

Phylum : Chordata Class : Reptilia Order : Saurischia Suborder : Sauropodomorpha Family : Melanosauridae Genus : Lessemsaurus Species : L. sauropoides

Late Triassic (210 Ma)

9 m long and 2 000 kg (size)

South America (map)

Described by the famous Argentinean paleontologist Jose Bonaparte in 1999--who named his find after the popular dinosaur-book author Don Lessem--Lessemsaurus was one of the largest prosauropods of late Triassic South America, measuring a full 30 feet from head to tail and weighing in the neighborhood of two tons (which still wasn't much compared to the giant sauropods of the late Jurassic period). This plant-eater shared its habitat with, and may have been closely related to, another plus-sized South American prosauropod, the better-known Riojasaurus.