Open Paleo

Blikanasaurus

Galton & Van Heerden, 1985 bli-KAHN-a-SAWR-us

Named for the Blikana locality in South Africa where the fossils were found, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard', meaning 'lizard from Blikana'.

227.3–201.4 million years ago Norian–Rhaetian, Late Triassic
Late Triassic stages

Blikanasaurus is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the late Triassic of South Africa. The generic name Blikanasaurus is derived from Greek, meaning "lizard from Blikana". The species name cromptoni is taken from the surname of A.W. "Fuzz" Crompton, an American paleontologist who led numerous field expeditions in Elliot Formation outcrop localities in South Africa. Blikanasaurus is only known from partial hindlimb bones that were recovered from the lower Elliot Formation (LEF) in the Eastern Cape.

Under dispute

Blikanasaurus cromptoni is a robust, derived sauropodiform known from a partial hindlimb. McPhee and colleagues (2014) recover it as the earliest sauropod under the definition of Yates (2007), and Apaldetti and colleagues (2011) in a polytomy within Sauropoda, whereas McPhee and colleagues (2017) and Rauhut and colleagues (2020) recover it as a non-sauropodan sauropodiform outside Sauropoda.

Diagnosis

  1. Tibia with maximum proximal width 0.48 of maximum length; descending process relatively deep and robust
  2. Distal end of fibula with a large oval, ventromedially directed articular surface
  3. Astragalus relatively short transversely with high, prominent ascending process
  4. Calcaneum small, lying ventrolateral to the astragalus
  5. Two distal tarsals medially placed between astragalus and metatarsals I-III, with reduced calcaneum contacting metatarsal IV
  6. Metatarsal II and III uniquely massive in lateral/medial view; metatarsal V much reduced with marked distal taper

Species

Blikanasaurus cromptoni Galton & Van Heerden, 1985

Type species

Taken from the surname of A.W. 'Fuzz' Crompton, an American paleontologist who led numerous field expeditions in Elliot Formation outcrop localities in South Africa.

Holotype
SAM K403 , Iziko South African Museum
Material
Left epipodals, tarsus and pes with two or three phalanges missing
Horizon
lower Elliot Formation, Norian–Rhaetian, Late Triassic , 227.3–201.4 million years ago
Locality
1.6 km northeast of Blikana Trading Store, Herschel district, Eastern Cape, South Africa McPhee and colleagues (2017) retraced the probable type locality from the describing paper's bearing and print its position.

References

  1. McPhee, B. W.; Bordy, E. M.; Sciscio, L.; Choiniere, J. N. (2017). The sauropodomorph biostratigraphy of the Elliot Formation of southern Africa: tracking the evolution of Sauropodomorpha across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 62(3): 441-465.

    Lists Blikana, with SAM-PK 403, at 30°33'29.81"S, 27°37'20.38"E, a retraced "probable type locality".

    mcphee2017b
  2. Galton, P. M.; Van Heerden, J. (1985). Partial hindlimb of Blikanasaurus cromptoni n. gen. and n. sp.,representing a new family of prosauropod dinosaurs from the upper triassic of South Africa. Geobios 18(4): 509-516. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(85)80003-6 galton1985b
  3. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and mass estimates.

    paul2024a
  4. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b
  5. McPhee, B. W.; Yates, A. M.; Choiniere, J. N.; Abdala, F. (2014). The complete anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Antetonitrus ingenipes (Sauropodiformes, Dinosauria): implications for the origins of Sauropoda. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171(1): 151-205. doi:10.1111/zoj.12127

    Phylogenetic analysis of Antetonitrus recovered Blikanasaurus as a basal sauropod.

    mcphee2014a
  6. Apaldetti, C.; Martínez, R. N.; Alcober, O. A.; Pol, D. (2011). A New Basal Sauropodomorph (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from Quebrada del Barro Formation (Marayes-El Carrizal Basin), Northwestern Argentina. PLoS ONE 6(11): e26964. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026964

    Recovered Blikanasaurus in a polytomy within Sauropoda.

    apaldetti2011a
  7. Rauhut, O. W. M.; Holwerda, F. M.; Furrer, H. (2020). A derived sauropodiform dinosaur and other sauropodomorph material from the Late Triassic of Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Swiss Journal of Geosciences 113(1). Pensoft Publishers. doi:10.1186/s00015-020-00360-8

    Recovered Blikanasaurus as an outgroup to Sauropoda under implied weights.

    rauhut2020a
  8. Yates, A. M. (2007). Solving a dinosaurian puzzle: the identity of Aliwalia rex Galton. Historical Biology 19(1): 93-123. doi:10.1080/08912960600866953

    Defines Sauropoda as the most inclusive clade containing Saltasaurus but not Melanorosaurus.

    yates2007a