REMAINS of the earliest known sauropod, a relative of the largest dinosaurs to roam the Earth, have been unearthed in South Africa.
The new species has been named Antetonitrus ingenipes. Antetonitrus means “before the thunder”, marking the species’ evolution into the brontosaurus or “thunder lizard” some 65 million years later. It weighed about 2 tonnes. But at 10 to 12 metres long, with a hip height of 2.2 metres, it was dwarfed by its later relatives.
A. ingenipes appears to be the missing link between the sauropods and their mainly two-legged predecessors, the prosauropods. “It’s an excellent example of a…
