#pampadromaeus

Desmatosuchus 

By @apsaravis​

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By @quetzalpali-art​

Pampadromaeus 

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Kam linked me a pride dino prompt list for the month and it sounded cute so......... here we go! xD

Non binary pampadromaeus. c: 

By José Carlos Cortés 

Etymology: Runner from the Plains

First Described By: Cabreira et al., 2011

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Sauropodomorpha

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: 233.23 million years ago, in the Carnian age of the Late Triassic 

Pampadromaeus is from the Alemoa Member of the Santa Maria Formation of the state of Rio Grande do Sol, Brazil 

Physical Description: Pampadromaeus was an early Sauropodomorph, the group that includes the large, impressive Sauropods and all their close relatives. Since it was an early member of the group, though, it didn’t resemble Sauropods much at all. Like other early dinosaurs, it was a small, bipedal animal, with hands attached to short arms and a small head. In fact, it was one of the smaller early dinosaurs, potentially weighing only about 2.5 kilograms (one of the nest smallest early dinosaurs, Saturnalia, was 6.5 kilograms) and only reaching, at maximum, 1.5 meters in total body length. This means it weighed about as much as a chihuahua, and as long as a capybara. They also would have been fairly short in height. This light weight would have been achieved mainly through air sacs in the bones, which made Saurischian dinosaurs (one of the two major groupings of dinosaurs which includes Sauropods and Theropods and, thus, birds) lighter in terms of bone density, and also gave them more efficient breathing.

As an early Sauropodomorph (“prosauropod”) it shows a lot of traits similar to the Theropods, the group of dinosaurs including all carnivorous dinosaurs and birds - it had a long, narrow skull with a downward pointing jaw, like a lot of early Theropods, and unserrated teeth like early Theropods as well. It’s head is larger than that of later Sauropodomorphs, and it has short thighs and a shorter trunk of its body than later Sauropodomorphs.

Still, it is shown to be a Sauropodomorph, rather than another type of early dinosaur, due to its expanded, overlapping teeth bases, notches in the tail like other Sauropodomorphs, long upper arms, and other specific bone characteristics shared by the entire group (though these might actually be traits caused by crushing of the fossils). So, this was an early example of a Sauropodomorph, showcasing many ancestral dinosaur traits alongside early Sauropod-y ones. Unique to Pampadromaeus, it had a smaller ball in its femur-lower leg socket than other dinosaurs - what the function of this adaptation was, however, is unclear.

The most interesting thing about Pampadromaeus is its lower legs: it had very long shins compared to its thighs, making it the Sauropodomorph most well adapted for running and fast turning, in general, speed. This ratio of lower leg to upper leg length is actually higher than some of the faster animals of the Late Triassic, such as Coelophysis, making it more adapted for fast movement than Coelophysis and other dinosaurs like it. It probably wouldn’t have been faster than Coelophysis due to its small size, but this does indicate a high level of evolution for running.

By Jack Wood 

Diet: As an early Sauropodomorph, Pampadromaeus was probably an omnivore, feeding on both plant and animal material depending on the situation. Since early dinosaurs such as Pampadromaeus were generalists and rare in their environments, Pampadromaeus would have probably been fairly generalistic, eating what it could find when it could find it. Given that, as it is on the evolutionary line to Sauropods, it’s possible that it ate more plant material than other early dinosaurs tended to do; but it still wouldn’t have been entirely herbivorous, especially given some early Sauropodomorphs were mainly carnivores, like Buriolestes.

Behavior: As a very small, fast animal, Pampadromaeus would have been extremely skittish, running at the first sign of danger or potential predators. This would have served it well, of course, allowing it to escape from danger as quickly as possible. As a generalist, it would have gone wherever there was food in its environment, eating any source and not really being picky about its lunch. Its remains are limited, so it was possibly quite rare in its ecosystem; it seems unlike that it would have been a herding animal, and probably was mainly solitary or living in small groups to help each other keep lookout.

Ecosystem: Pampadromaeus lived in a huge river system, filled with multiple rivers coming together in a large floodplain. It was an extremely muddy environment, interspersed with sand; given it was a tropical area, this would have made the environment of Pampadromaeus very warm and humid. This ecosystem was filled with conifers, many kinds of seed ferns, and horsetails. This gives a picture of a very lush, somewhat forested environment, mainly filled with water plants associated with the huge river beds.

Many other Dinosauromorphs lived in the region along with Pampadromaeus, including the basal Dinosauromorph Ixalerpeton, the Herrerasaurid predator Staurikosaurus, the carnivorous sauropodomorph Buriolestes, the somewhat more sauropod-like Bagualosaurus, another Sauropodomorph Saturnalia, and the dubious theropod Teyuwasu. The Rhynchosaur Hyperodapedon was also present - a kind of herbivorous reptile with a small beak for snipping off vegetation. There were also near-mammal Synapsid predators, such as Trucidocynodon, which was adapted for fast movement and may have preyed on Pampadromaeus. There was also the herbivorous near-mammal Synapsid Exaeretodon. The large predatory Decuriasuchus was present as well - a type of stem-crocodile like the more famous Postosuchus. This was an extremely diverse ecosystem, showcasing a lot of the weird animals that make the Triassic so unique. In addition to Trucidocynodon, Pampadromaeus would probably have had to fear predation by Staurikosaurus and Decuriasuchus, and possibly also its close relative Buriolestes, if Pampadromaeus really was that small. No wonder it had to run so fast!

Other: Interestingly enough, between the large head, general body shape, and legs adapted for running, Pampadromaeus appears to have convergently evolved to be very similar to later Ornithopods and other small Ornithischians, another group of small dinosaurs that, as prey animals, stuck to running to escape from danger. So, Pampadromaeus is a Sauropodomorph that did the Ornithopod thing before Ornithopods were a thing.

It is possible, due to its extremely small size, that Pampadromaeus is only known from juvenile bones, and that the running adaptations were a juvenile trait; no one has really discussed this, however, so for now that idea remains untested.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the cut 

Source: thewoodparable

Name: Pampadromaeus barberenai

Name Meaning: Plain Runner 

First Described: 2011

Described By: Cabreira et al. 

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Sauropodomorpha 

Pampadromaeus was a basal sauropodomorph from about 225 million years ago, in the Carnian age of the Late Triassic. It was found in the Alemoa Member of the Santa Maria Formation in Brazil. It is known from a partial, well preserved skeleton, including most of the skull. It was a small, bipedal animal, with a mixture of basal and more advanced traits. It even had some characters of theropods. It had large, elongated, slightly recurved teeth that were coarsely serrated. The lower leg was much longer than the thighbone, implying it was a good runner. 

Source: 

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