In Depth
Glacialisaurus is the first genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur known from Antarctica. Though only known from a few hind limb bones, these are enough to identify Glacialisaurus as a massospondylid sauropodomorph dinosaur, as well as possible close relative of Lufengosaurus from China.
From the same fossil formation that the Glacialisaurus holotype remains are known from, the fossils of sauropod dinosaurs are also known. This is a clear indicator that the sauropod dinosaurs did not replace the earlier sauropodomorphs overnight, and that the sauropods and sauropodomorph dinosaurs co-existed together for quite some time. Predatory threats to Glacialisaurus potentially include Cryolophosaurus, a meat-eating theropod dinosaur that is known from the same Hanson Formation that Glacialisaurus is known from.Further reading
- Anatomy of a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of Antarctica. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52(4):657-674. - N. D. Smith & D. Pol - 2007.
- The Dinosaurs of the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of the Central Transantarctic Mountains: Phylogenetic Review and Synthesis. - U.S. Geological Survey and the National Academies. - N. D. Smith, P. J. Makovicky, D. Pol, W. R. Hammer & P. J. Currie - 2007.
