page_title: Sarahsaurus
section_title: Discovery and naming
hierarchical_section_title: Sarahsaurus / Discovery and naming
caption_attribution_description: English: Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis, holotype (TMM 43646-2): (a) presacral vertebral column from vertebrae 2 to 22; (b) second caudal vertebra; (c) mid-caudal vertebra; (d) left clavicle in medial view; (e) left sternal plate in ventral view; (f) right humerus in dorsal, lateral, ventral, medial, proximal and distal views; (g) right antebrachium and manus in lateral and medial views; (h) left scapula and coracoid; (i) right femur in anterior, medial, posterior, lateral, proximal and dorsal views; (j) right astragalus in distal, posterior, ventral, medial, lateral and anterior views; (k) left ilium in lateral view; (l) pubes in anterior view and (m) left and right ischia, in lateral view. Scale bar, 5 cm.
context_page_description: Sarahsaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur which lived during the lower Jurassic period in what is now northeastern Arizona, United States.
context_section_description: All specimens of Sarahsaurus were collected from the Early Jurassic Kayenta Formation near Gold Spring, Arizona. The genus is based on a nearly complete and articulated (with bones still connected to each other) skeleton with a fragmentary and disarticulated skull (holotype, specimen number TMM 43646-2). In addition, a partial skeleton (specimen number TMM 43646-3) as well as a nearly complete skull (specimen number MCZ 8893) was assigned to the genus. The latter specimen was originally referred to as Massospondylus sp. The complete skull is crushed and split horizontally, separating the skull roof from the palate; this split was caused by periodic swelling and shrinkage of the surrounding clay after burial. While the holotype individual was mature, the second skull indicates a less mature individual as indicated by open suture lines that separate skull bones of the braincase (the bones enclosing the brain).
  Sarahsaurus was first described by Timothy B. Rowe, Hans-Dieter Sues and Robert R. Reisz in 2011; the type species is Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis. The generic name honours Sarah Butler and is derived from the Greek sauros meaning "lizard". The specific name is derived from aurum (Latin), "gold", and fontanalis (Latin), "of the spring" in reference to Gold Spring, Arizona, where the holotype was found. Sarahsaurus is the fourth basal sauropodomorph dinosaur to have been identified in North America; the other three are Anchisaurus and Ammosaurus from the Early Jurassic of the Connecticut River Valley, and Seitaad of the later Navajo Sandstone of Early Jurassic Utah. It is thought to have appeared through a dispersal event that originated in South America and was separate from those of the other two sauropodomorphs. The animal is notable for possessing very large, powerful hands, possibly suggesting that it was an omnivore.
caption: Illustration of the bones in the holotype
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