Lufengosaurus

Phylogeny: Dinosauria > Saurischia > Sauropodomorpha > Plateosauria > Massopoda > Massospondylidae

Overview: Basal sauropodomorphs, informally known as “prosauropods”, are often hard to tell apart at a glance. The earliest members were somewhat theropod-like in form, while more derived taxa were more similar to true sauropods, but those in the middle often looked alike. There are a few traits that can be used to distinguish separate lineages, however. With its slender form and its very tiny skull, Lufengosaurus can be pretty confidently placed within the family Massospondylidae, though it’s sometimes associated with the plateosaurids in older studies. Massospondylids thrived in a few different regions around the world during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. The family’s namesake, Massospondylus, lived in southern Africa, while others are known from the Americas. Compared to Massospondylus, Lufengosaurus was notably larger, being among the largest genera in the family. In comparison to later sauropodomorphs, however, it was relatively small.

Similar to other massospondylids, or basal sauropodomorphs in general, Lufengosaurus was a fully bipedal animal, its wrists not being adapted for bearing weight. This left its hands, and its claws, free for foraging and defense. “Prosauropods” generally had relatively simple teeth, shaped in a way that was suitable for a mostly or entirely herbivorous diet. Lufengosaurus would’ve lived on plants like ferns, horsetails, cycads, and conifers. It itself would’ve been a source of food for dinosaurs like Sinosaurus – a medium-sized, crested theropod similar in appearance to Dilophosaurus. Remains of both dinosaurs are known from China’s Lufeng Formation, in the southern province of Yunnan. This formation, as well as Lufengosaurus itself, are named after the nearby city of Lufeng. The first fossils of this dinosaur were found near there in the 1930’s, upon which the genus was based in its 1940 description, published by the renowned Yang Zhongjian (C. C. Young).