Pronunciation: leh-DOO-muh-HA-dee
Meaning: Giant thunderclap
Author/s: McPhee et al. (2018)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Free State, South Africa
Discovery Chart Position: #995
Ledumahadi mafube
(Early giant thunderclap)Etymology
In Sesotho (seh-SOO-too) or Southern Sotho, the Bantu language of the Basotho people of South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho, Ledumahadi means "giant thunderclap" (a single sharp crash of thunder).
The species epithet, mafube, is also a Sesotho word and means "dawn". Combined, Ledumahadi mafube (a giant thunderclap at dawn) reflects the great size of the animal and the fact that its lineage appeared at the origins of sauropod dinosaurs—known colloquially as "thunder lizards".
Discovery
The remains of Ledumahadi were discovered in the upper Elliot Formation at Beginsel farm, 25 km southeast of the town of Clarens, Free
State Province, on the border of South Africa and Lesotho.
The holotype (BP/1/7120) is a disarticulated assemblage of associated material including vertebrae from the back, hip and tail, a partial cervical arch, a chevron, an arm bone (right
ulna), finger bones, a partial thigh and a toe claw.
