Megapnosaurus
Megapnosaurus kayentakatae
- Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis
- Megapnosaurus kayentakatae
Megapnosaurus ( " big dead lizard" ), formerly Syntarsus, is a genus of small theropod dinosaur from the early Jurassic, which are similar to the types of Coelophysis very.
So far, two species have been described, Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis as Syntarsus rhodesiensis 1969 Megapnosaurus kayentakatae as Syntarsus kayentakatae 1989.
In 2001 Syntarsus was renamed by the entomologists Ivie, Slipinski and Wegrzynowicz in Megapnosaurus after it had been found that the original genus name had already been awarded in 1869 for a beetle ( Syntarsus ( Raath, 1969) ).
Features
Megapnosaurus differs from Coelophysis, among other things by its fused foot bones, its slightly smaller size and by the two crescent -shaped bony crests on the skull. In just over two meters in length he reached a weight of about 15 kilograms.
System
Megapnosaurus belongs to Coelophysoidea, a group of primitive theropods. He is closely related to Coelophysis. Cladogram after Tykoski and Rowe (2004):
Liliensternus
Segisaurus
Coelophysis
Megapnosaurus rhodesiensis
Megapnosaurus kayentakatae