Kholumolumo

Before formal naming or identification, this organism was known as the following on this wiki:
**"Thotobolosaurus"** and **"Kholumolumosaurus"**

## Statistics

### Etymology

After a dragon legend often affiliated with dinosaurs, from the local Basuto

### Weight

1754 kilograms (likely)3963 kilograms (if a quadruped)

### Diet

Herbivorous

*Kholumolumo*, sometimes known as the Maphutseng dinosaur, is a genus of prosauropod dinosaur that lived in South Africa during the Late Triassic.

## History

Samuel Motsoane (1930), principal of the Paris Evangelical Mission School, Lesotho, discovered dispersed fossil remains. In 1955, he told protestant missionary Paul Ellenberger, who with his brother François, excavated a bonebed within the vicinity of a refuse pile several meters from the Village of Maphutseng within the same year. Locals called this Thotobolo ea 'Ma-Beata ("trash heap of Beata's mother". In November of 1955, paleontologists Alfred Walter Crompton and Rosalie F. "Griff" Ewer reinforced the area and having it reported in literature. From Februart 1956 and on, they continued digging to the end of the second field season. By this time, they had collected 683 fossils from 35 meters2. In 1956, the Ellenberger's briefly described the fossils and they were transported to the South African Museum in 1957.

Preparation delays here rifted Crompton and the Ellenberger brothers. In 1959, the latter and F. Ellenberger's wife Hélène continued to excavate in cooperation with a French team from the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle with Léonard Ginsburg and Jean Fabre. 200+ pieces were collected. In 1960, 8 dinosaurian trackways were reported over 70 meters2, with 3 transported to the University of Montpellier and lost. Additional excavations by P. Ellenberger, Ginsbur, Fabre and Christiane Mendrez were conducted. In 1966, F. Ellenberger and Ginsburg described them in detail and referred them to *Euskelosaurus*. The last excavations by P. Ellenberger, Ginsburg, Fabre and Bernard Battail were done in September 1970.

## Classification

The nomen nudum "Thotobolosaurus mabeatae" (Beata's mother's trash heap lizard") refers to the area where its remains were discovered and was suggested by P. Ellenberger in 1970. The name "Kholumolumosaurus ellenbergerorum" was coined by François-Xavier Gauffre (1996)'s unpublished dissertation. In 2020, the animal was named *Kholumolumo ellenboroughum* by Peyre de Fabrègues and Allain, and the unpublished names went into obscurity. This derives from kholumolumo or xodumodumo (a gigantic reptile referring to dragons, lizards, dinosaurs or crocodiles from Sotho mythology) and the specific epithet after the Ellenberger family.

## Description

The holotype is MNHN.F.LES381m from the Lower Elliot Formation of Norian age. It is a complete right tibia. Other material in Paris were coined as paratypes. All other sauropodomorphs from this locality were referred. Little skull material is known, with the remains representing at least 5 (probably 10) individuals of disarticulation. It was upwards of 9 meters (30 feet) long, making it one of the largest known Norian animals. Weight can be estimated using thighbone circumference. The authors thought likely that it was a biped, finding a weight of 1754 kilograms. If a quadruped, it may have reached 3963 kilograms. Much known of anatomy is inferred from *Sarahsaurus* and other relatives. The mosaic of traits in the holotype are not unique, but the shinbone is very short and robust with a circumference 53% of its length. The shinbone shaft tapers below from both the inside and outside view. Its shaft has a straight front and rear edge, differing from *Antetonitrus*.

## References

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kholumolumo
* Le gisement de dinosauriens de Maphutseng (Basutoland, Afrique du Sud, Ellenberger 1956.
* Bichronostratigraphy of the Lower Elliot Formation (southern Africa) and preliminary results on the Maphutseng dinosaur (Saurischia: Prosauropoda) from the same Formation of Lesotho, Gauffre 1993.
* The complete anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of *Antetonitrus ingenipes* (Sauropodiformes, Dinosauria): mplications for the origins of Sauropoda, McPhee, Yates, Choiniere and Abdala 2014.
* The problem of dinosaur origins: integrating three approaches to the rise of Dinosauria, Pandian 2013.