In Depth
Upon first study Azendohsaurus was considered to have been a herbivorous dinosaur, possibly either a prosauropod or even an ornithischian. Later study has now yielded the conclusion that Azendohsaurus is not a dinosaur at all, merely an archosauromorph that grew to resemble early herbivorous dinosaurs by convergent evolution. If this sounds similar then that’s because it is similar to what happened to the genus Shuvosaurus. This genus was once interpreted as being an ancient Triassic age ornithomimosaur, only to be later found to be an archosaur (specifically a type of rauisuchian). The true identity of Azendohsaurus was helped by the discovery and description of Madagascan fossil material by Flynn et al in 2010. Azendohsaurus is known to have leaf shaped teeth, an adaptation commonly seen in herbivorous reptiles that eat lush leafy vegetation.
Further Reading
- D�couverte d’un Dinosaure ornithischien dans le Trias sup�rieur de l’Atlas occidental marocain [Discovery of an ornithischian dinosaur in the Upper Triassic of the Moroccan western Atlas], J. M. Dutuit - 1972. – The prosauropod dinosaur Azendohsaurus laaroussii from the Upper Triassic of Morocco. – Palaeontology. 36 (4): 897–908 – via The Palaeontological Association. – F. X. Gauffre – 1993. - A new species of Azendohsaurus (Diapsida: Archosauromorpha) from the Triassic Isalo Group of southwestern Madagascar: cranium and mandible, J. J. Flynn, S. J. Nesbitt, J. M. Parrish, L. Ranivoharimanana, A. R. Wyss - 2010. – Postcranial osteology of Azendohsaurus madagaskarensis (?Middle to Upper Triassic, Isalo Group, Madagascar) and its systematic position among stem archosaur reptiles. – Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (398): 1–126. – J. J. Pritchard, M. J. Parrish, L. Ranivoharimanana & A. R. Wyss – 2015. – Bone histology of Azendohsaurus laaroussii: Implications for the evolution of thermometabolism in Archosauromorpha. – Paleobiology. 45 (2): 317–330. – J. Cubo & N. -E Jalil – 2019.
