Ledumahadi
From Sesotho meaning 'giant thunderclap', in reference to the animal's enormous size. The species name 'mafube' means 'dawn' in Sesotho.
Ledumahadi is a genus of lessemsaurid sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Elliot Formation in Free State Province, South Africa. The type and only species is L. mafube, known from a singular incomplete postcranial specimen. A quadruped, it was one of the first giant sauropodomorphs, reaching a weight of around 12 tonnes (13 short tons), despite not having evolved columnar limbs like its later huge relatives.
Diagnosis
- Medial edge of proximal first metacarpal sharply tapering and curved with sublacriform outline, differing from typical keyhole shape
- Anterior articular facet of anterior caudal vertebra deeply concave, set back from anterolateral margin 4.5 cm
- Forelimb elements extremely robust with ulnal minimum shaft circumference 0.57 times total bone length
Species
Ledumahadi mafube McPhee et al., 2018
Type species
From Sesotho 'mafube' meaning 'dawn', referring to the early appearance of this giant sauropodomorph at the dawn of sauropod evolution in the Early Jurassic.
- Holotype
- BP/1/7120 , Evolutionary Studies Institute (formerly Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research), University of the Witwatersrand
- Material
- Disarticulated postcranial skeleton: partial cervical neural arch, dorsal vertebrae, primordial sacral vertebrae, caudal vertebrae, chevron, right ulna, first metacarpal, left metacarpal, distal femur, pedal ungual.
- Horizon
- upper Elliot Formation, Hettangian–Sinemurian, Early Jurassic , 201.4–192.9 million years ago
- Locality
- Beginsel farm, Free State, South Africa
References
- McPhee, B. W.; Benson, R. B. J.; Botha-Brink, J.; Bordy, E. M.; Choiniere, J. N. (2018). A Giant Dinosaur from the Earliest Jurassic of South Africa and the Transition to Quadrupedality in Early Sauropodomorphs. Current Biology 28(19): 3143-3151.e7. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.063 mcphee2018a
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Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.
Source of the body length estimate.
jones2026b