Dino of the Week: Melanorosaurus

Type Species: Melanorosaurus readi

Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia - Sauropodomorpha - Prosauropoda

Time Period: Late Triassic

Location: Africa

Diet: Herbivore

The “Black Mountain Lizard” roamed the conifer forests of Upper Triassic South Africa, where it may have rubbed shoulders with Riojasaurus and Euskelosaurus. Melanorosaurus’ body is, in a lot of respects, morphologically similar to those of the later sauropods: its large body, sturdy limbs, and ponderous, fully quadrupedal gait have inspired numbers of scientists over the years to wonder if Melanorosaurus, like Riojasaurus, has eerily close family ties to the sauropods. Melanorosaurus had a pointed, tapering nose not unlike a bird’s beak; the skull was about nine inches long—definitely small for a head-to-tail length up to fifty feet!—and looked triangular when seen from above or below. The long tail tapered towards its end and had a good degree of flexibility; the neck, while long, is stubbier than those of the sauropods. 

The presence of sclerotic rings—rings of bony plates that protected the eyes—in Melanorosaurus allowed it to function during both the day and night; when comparing the sclerotic rings and orbit sizes of prosauropods and modern birds and reptiles, scientists have suggested that prosauropods were cathemeral, meaning that they could see best at dusk and dawn. Perhaps Melanorosaurus—along with many of its prosauropod blood-fellows—was most active in the morning and evening, avoiding the sweltering heat of the Triassic afternoons by basking in the shadows of Pangaean cliffs or under the shade offered by towering conifers.