Melanorosaurus

Name: Melanorosaurus ‭(‬Black mountain lizard‭)‬.
Phonetic: Meh-lan-os-sore-us.
Named By: Sidney H.‭ ‬Haughton‭ ‬-‭ ‬1924.
Classification: Chrodata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Sauropodomorpha.
Species: M.‭ ‬readi‭ (‬type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Up to‭ ‬8‭ ‬meters long.‭ ‬Skull‭ ‬25‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: South Africa‭ ‬-‭ ‬Elliot Formation.
Time period: Carnian to Norian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Complete skull and partial post cranial remains.

       Melanorosaurus is usually referred to as a sauropodomorph although it’s precise position can vary according to different sources.‭ ‬Nevertheless,‭ ‬Melanorosaurus represents a form that is intermediate between the bipedal sauropod ancestors,‭ ‬and the later larger quadrupedal forms.‭ ‬Also while not as grand in size as the later sauropods,‭ ‬at up to eight meters long Melanorosaurus was still one of the largest known land animals of its day.
       A former species of Melanorosaurus, M. thabanensis, has now been moved to its own genus called Meroktenos.

Further reading
- The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series. - Annals of the South African Museum 12 : 323-497 - S. H. Haughton - 1924.
- Postcranial Anatomy of Referred Specimens of Melanorosaurus. - In Carpenter, Kenneth and Tidswell, Virginia (ed.). Thunder Lizards: The Sauropodomorph Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press. pp. 1–37. - P. M. Galton, J. Van Heerden & A. M. Yates - 2005.
- The first complete skull of the Triassic dinosaur Melanorosaurus Haughton (Sauropodomorpha: Anchisauria). - In Barrett & Batten (eds.), Evolution and Palaeobiology (2007), pp. 9–55. - Adam M. Yates.

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