SEFAPANOSAURUS
a plant-eating anchisaurian sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa.
Pronunciation: SEF-uh-PAR-no-SOR-us
Meaning: Cross lizard
Author/s: Otero
et al. (
2015)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Free State, South Africa
Discovery Chart Position: #898
Sefapanosaurus zastronensis
(Cross lizard from Zastro)Etymology
Sefapanosaurus is derived from the Sesotho word "sefapano" (cross) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard), in reference to the Tau Cross-shaped (or "T"-shaped) projection of bone (aka ascending process) on the ankle.
The
species epithet,
zastronensis, means "from Zastron" in Latin.
ZooBank registry:
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:382B829A-EA84-475C-8FB5-9A333A960EE5.
Discovery
The remains of
Sefapanosaurus were discovered in the Upper Elliot Formation close to the town of Zastron, Free State, South Africa, about 30 km west of the Lesotho border, by A. W. Keyser.
The
holotype (BP/1/386) is an ankle, a heel bone, and three metatarsals from the left foot. Referred material from at least four individuals (BP/1/7409-7455) includes vertebrae from the neck, back, hip and tail, most of a forelimb, and a partial hindlimb.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Early Jurassic
Stage: Hettangian-Simemurian
Age range: 201-196 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: ?
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: ?
Diet: Herbivore
Sefapanosaurus
zastronensis
References
• Otero A, Krupandan E, Pol D, Chinsamy A and Choinier J (2015) "A new basal sauropodiform from South Africa and the phylogenetic relationships of basal sauropodomorphs".
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 174(3): 589-634. DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12247
• Botha J, Choiniere JN and Benson RBJ (2022) "Rapid growth preceded gigantism in sauropodomorph evolution".
Current Biology (advance online publication).
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.031
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
SEFAPANOSAURUS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/SEFAPANOSAURUS›. Web access: 07th Mar 2026.
