Open Paleo

Euskelosaurus

Huxley, 1866 yoo-SKEE-lo-SOR-us Nomen dubium

From Greek eu ("good"), skelos ("leg"), and sauros ("lizard"); meaning "good-legged lizard", chosen by Huxley in reference to the unusually large femur of the type material.

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

Euskelosaurus is a sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic of South Africa and Lesotho. Fossils have only been recovered from the lower Elliot Formation in South Africa and Lesotho, and in one locality in Zimbabwe.

Under dispute

Euskelosaurus browni is a nomen dubium: Yates (2003) found no derived characters or unique combination of characters distinguishing it from other early sauropodomorphs, and its material cannot be identified further than Sauropodomorpha. It was earlier treated as an anchisaurid (Galton, 1985) or a melanorosaurid (Cooper, 1980).

Species

Euskelosaurus browni Huxley, 1866 Nomen dubium

Type species

Named after Alfred Brown, the discoverer of the type material.

Lectotype
BMNH R1625 , Natural History Museum
Material
A portion of a right femur, ~25.5 in (65 cm) preserved length; the entire femur is inferred to have exceeded 30 in (76 cm). Part of Huxley's (1866) original type series; Cooper (1980) designated it the lectotype.
Horizon
lower Elliot Formation, Norian–Rhaetian, Late Triassic , 227.3–201.4 million years ago
Locality
Stormberg range of mountains, about thirty miles from the town of Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Euskelosaurus africanus junior subjective Erected by Haughton (1924) on smaller Kromme Spruit material (S. Af. Mus. Cat. No. 3608, sacrals and ischia); modern usage treats it as a nomen dubium indistinguishable from other Elliot sauropodomorphs.
Euskelosaurus capensis junior subjective Originally Orinosaurus (=Orosaurus) capensis Lydekker (1889); placed by Haughton (1924) within Euskelosaurus on a proximal tibia and femur fragment; modern usage treats it as a nomen dubium.

References

  1. Huxley, T. H. (1866). On the remains of large dinosaurian reptiles from the Stormberg mountains, South Africa. Geological Magazine 3: 563-564. doi:10.1017/S0016756800198395

    Two-page note erecting Euskelosaurus browni on a partial right femur from the Stormberg mountains; Huxley distinguishes the new genus from Megalosaurus by trochanter form.

    huxley1866a
  2. Huxley, T. H. (1867). On some Remains of large Dinosaurian Reptiles from the Stormberg Mountains, South Africa. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 23(1-2): 1-6. Geological Society of London. doi:10.1144/gsl.jgs.1867.023.01-02.07

    Fuller follow-up to the 1866 Geological Magazine note (read 7 Nov 1866, published 1867); uses the variant spelling 'Euskelesaurus' (an incorrect subsequent spelling).

    huxley1867b
  3. Haughton, S. H. (1924). The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series. Annals of the South African Museum 12: 323-497.

    Recognizes E. browni Huxley as the type, accepts E. capensis (Lyd.), and erects E. africanus on smaller Kromme Spruit material.

    haughton1924a
  4. Cooper, M. R. (1980). The first record of the prosauropod dinosaur Euskelosaurus from Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). Arnoldia (Zimbabwe) 9(3): 1-17.

    Designated BMNH R1625 (a right femur) as the lectotype of Euskelosaurus browni.

    cooper1980a
  5. Galton, P. M. (1985). Notes on the Melanorosauridae, a family of large Prosauropod Dinosaurs (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha). Geobios 18(5): 671-676. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(85)80065-6

    Figured the lectotype femur, from "the lower Elliot Beds of South Africa", and argued Melanorosaurus readi is not a junior synonym of Euskelosaurus.

    galton1985a
  6. Yates, A. M.; Kitching, J. W. (2003). The earliest known sauropod dinosaur and the first steps towards sauropod locomotion. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 270(1525): 1753-1758. The Royal Society. doi:10.1098/rspb.2003.2417

    Treats E. browni as 'almost certainly a nomen dubium' lacking derived characters or unique combination of characters distinguishing it from other early sauropodomorphs.

    yates2003a
  7. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Treats Euskelosaurus as a plateosaurid-grade nomen dubium.

    jones2026b
  8. Lydekker, R. (1889). Note on new and other dinosaurian remains. Geological Magazine 6: 352-356. doi:10.1017/S0016756800176587

    Coined Orinosaurus (=Orosaurus) capensis, later referred to Euskelosaurus.

    lydekker1889c
  9. Yates, A. M. (2003). A definite prosauropod dinosaur from the Lower Elliot Formation (Norian: Upper Triassic) of South Africa. Palaeontologia africana 39: 63-68.

    Regards Euskelosaurus browni as a nomen dubium that cannot be identified further than Sauropodomorpha.

    yates2003c