Eucnemesaurus
4313397
208545551
2008-04-27T16:03:33Z
87.204.58.50
{{Taxobox
| name = ''Eucnemesaurus''
| fossil_range = [[Late Triassic]]
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[Sauropsid]]a
| superordo = [[Dinosaur]]ia
| ordo = [[Saurischia]]
| subordo = [[Sauropodomorpha]]
| infraordo = [[Prosauropoda]]
| familia = [[Riojasauridae]]
| genus = '''''Eucnemesaurus'''''
| species = '''''E. fortis'''''
| binomial = ''Eucnemesaurus fortis''
| binomial_authority = [[E. C. N. van Hoepen|Hoepen]], 1920
| synonyms =
* ''Aliwalia'' <small>[[Peter M. Galton|Galton]], 1985</small>
}}
'''''Eucnemesaurus''''' ({{pronEng|juːkˌniːmɨˈsɔrəs}}; meaning "good tibia lizard", for its robust [[tibia]]e) is a basal [[sauropodomorpha|sauropodomorph]] [[dinosaur]] [[genus]] usually considered to be a synonym of ''[[Euskelosaurus]]''. Recent study by Yates (2006), however, indicates that it is valid and the same animal as putative "giant [[herrerasauridae|herrerasaurid]]" ''Aliwalia''. It is based on a partial skeleton including [[vertebrae]], part of a [[pubis (bone)|pubis]], a [[femur]], and two [[tibia]]e. The remains were found in the [[Carnian|late Carnian]]-[[Norian|early Norian]]-age [[Upper Triassic]] [[Elliot Formation|Lower Elliot Formation]] of the [[Slabberts]] district, [[Free State|Orange Free State]], [[South Africa]].
Yates assigned the genus to the new family [[Riojasauridae]], with ''[[Riojasaurus]]'', usually regarded as a [[melanorosauridae|melanorosaurid]].
==History==
Fossil material now assigned to ''Eucnemesaurus'' was once placed in a separate genus, ''Aliwalia rex'' (the [[Genus|generic]] name was taken from the [[Aliwal Park Reserve]] in the [[Union of South Africa]], where the first remains were found). The [[fossil]] evidence of this species was comparably small, with for many years only [[femora]]l fragments and a [[maxilla]] known.
For many years the size of the femur led many [[paleontology|palaeontologist]]s to believe (along with the clearly carnivorous maxilla), that ''Aliwalia'' was a [[carnivorous]] dinosaur of remarkable size for the age in which lived. It would have been comparable to that of the large [[Jurassic]] and [[Cretaceous]] theropods, such as ''[[Allosaurus]]'', that evolved tens of millions of years after ''Aliwalia''. The original material was believed to bear a strong similarity to the [[South America]]n ''[[Herrerasaurus]]'', so much so that ''Aliwalia'' was originally classified in [[Herrerasauridae]] by [[Peter Galton]].
However, recent re-evaluation of the material has shown that the maxilla assigned to ''Aliwalia'' does not, unlike the other material, belong to ''Eucnemesaurus'', as it is clearly from a carnivore. In addition, new material clearly demonstrates this genus' sauropodomorph affinities.
==References==
* Yates, A.M. (2006). "Solving a dinosaurian puzzle: the identity of ''Aliwalia rex'' Galton". ''Historical Biology'', 1–31, iFirst article
==External links==
* [http://www.users.qwest.net/~jstweet1/sauropodomorpha.htm Sauropodomorpha]
{{portalpar|Dinosaurs}}
[[Category:Dinosaurs of Africa]]
[[Category:Prosauropods]]
[[Category:Triassic dinosaurs]]
[[de:Eucnemesaurus]]
[[fr:Aliwalia]]
[[it:Eucnemesaurus fortis]]
[[ja:アリワリア]]
[[pl:Euknemezaur]]
[[es:Eucnemesaurus]]
[[zh:優脛龍]]