Kotasaurus
Name:
Kotasaurus
(Kota lizard).
Phonetic: Koe-tah-sore-us.
Named By: P. Yadagiri - 2001.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda.
Species: K. yamanpalliensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated about 9 meters long.
Known locations: India - Kota Formation.
Time period: Sinemurian/Pliensbachian of the
Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial skeletal remains of
at least 12 individuals, though the skull is unknown.
In
a nutshell Kotasaurus is one of the most primitive sauropod
dinosaurs
discovered. So primitive is Kotasaurus that the
genus still possesses
features that are known in sauropodomorph
dinosaurs. This led to a
lot of initial confusion over whether Kotasaurus
was an advanced
sauropodomorph, or a primitive sauropod, though today the
interpretation of Kotasaurus as a very primitive
sauropod holds greater
favour amongst palaeontologists.
The
first fossils of Kotasaurus were found in the Kota
Formation, and
hence the name of the genus which means ‘Kota lizard'. Another
sauropod dinosaur named Barapasaurus
is also known from this
formation, though Kotasaurus is significantly
more primitive in
overall form than Barapasaurus.
Further reading
- A new sauropod Kotasaurus yamanpalliensis from
Lower Jurassic Kota
Formation of India. - Records of the Geological Survey of India
11:102-127. - P. Yadagiri - 1988.
- The osteology of Kotasaurus yamanpalliensis,
a sauropod dinosaur
from the Early Jurassic Kota Formation of India. - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 21 (2): 242–252. - P. Yadagiri
- 2001.
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