Saltopus
| Saltopus Temporal range: Late Triassic |
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|---|---|
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Branch: | Dinosauriformes |
| Genus: | †Saltopus Huene, 1910 |
| Species: | †S. elginensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Saltopus elginensis Huene, 1910 |
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Saltopus ("hopping foot") is a genus of very small bipedal dinosauriform, roughly 60 centimeters (23 in) long, not much bigger than a rabbit, that was discovered in Scotland by Friedrich von Huene in 1910.[1] It was a late Triassic carnivore. Probably the size of a small cat, with hollow bones like those of a bird, it may have weighed in at around two pounds (one kilogram). Based on related forms, it probably had five-fingered hands and a long head with dozens of sharp teeth. To date, Saltopus is known only from very poor material, mostly hind limb fragments.
It has been variously identified as a saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaur, a more advanced theropod, and a close relative of the herrerasaurs, but its taxonomy is in dispute because only fragmentary remains have been recovered. Some researchers, such as Gregory S. Paul,[2] have suggested it may represent a juvenile specimen of a coelophysid theropod such as Coelophysis or Procompsognathus. Rauhut and Hungerbühler suggested it is a primitive dinosauriform, not a true dinosaur, closely related to Lagosuchus.[3] Benton and Walker found it to be a dinosauriform more derived than Pseudolagosuchus and basal to a clade composed of silesauridae and dinosauria.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Huene, F.R. (1910). "Ein primitiver Dinosaurier aus der mittleren Trias von Elgin." Geol. Pal. Abh. n. s., 8: 315-322.
- ^ Paul, G.S. (1988). Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. New York: Simon and Schuster. 464 pp.
- ^ Rauhut, O.M.W. and A. Hungerbühler. (2000). "A review of European Triassic theropods." Gaia, 15: 75-88.
- ^ Saltopus, a dinosauriform from the Upper Triassic of Scotland. Michael J. Benton and Alick D. Walker. Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh / Volume 101 / Special Issue 3-4, pp 285 - 299 Royal Society of Edinburgh 2011 Published online: 17 May 2011 DOI:10.1017/S1755691011020081
