Blikanasaurus

*Blikanasaurus cromptoni*

***Blikanasaurus*** (meaning "Blikana lizard") was a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur found in Lower Elliot Formation rocks from the Late Triassic in what is now South Africa's Cape Province. Known from a left lower limb only, it has been variously classified as a prosauropod or basal sauropod. The type species, *Blikanasaurus cromptoni*, was first described by Galton and van Heerden in 1985. For a long time, it was thought to be a giant Prosauropod, but this form (known from a partial hind limb) seems to be one of the oldest Sauropods. It was 16.4 feet (5 meters) and weighed 1,000 lbs.

## History of discovery

*Blikanasaurus* was first discovered by a partial hindlimb (epipodium and pes) found in the lower Elliot Formation (LEF) at the foot of Blikana mountain in Herschel, Eastern Cape of South Africa around 1965. In the early 2000s, a second specimen - consisting of only a right metatarsal - was recovered from lower Elliot Formation deposits on the farm, Damplaats, in Ladybrand of the eastern Free State. A possible ilium that has been attributed to *Blikanasaurus* was found recently, although this remains to be confirmed.

## Description

As the two known *Blikanasaurus* specimens are extremely incomplete, very little is understood of this sauropodomorph taxon. The only information that has been deduced is from the bones of its hindlimb anatomy, which are heavily built. This suggests that *Blikanasaurus* was thickly set and robust.

## Classification

Due to its robust build, Blikanasaurus is hypothesized to have been an obligate quadruped, unlike what is characteristic of more basal sauropodomorphs. Due to this feature, Blikanasaurus was thought initially to be a basal sauropod. Blikanasaurus is now considered to be a basal sauropodomorph; however, due to the lack of complete specimens, little remains known about this enigmatic taxon. Some paleontologists claimed a case to group Blikanasaurus within the family Blikanasauridae, a family named by Galton and van Heerden in 1985, however, this family has not been formally accepted due to it lacking definitive taxa. The cladogram below displays the currently accepted systematics between Blikanasaurus and other sauropodomorphs.

## JPInstitute.com Description

Blikanasaurus was one of the earliest dinosaurs, and one of the first of what would evolve into the big, long-necked sauropod dinosaurs.

Blikanasaurus was an African dinosaur whose ancestors may have walked to Africa from South America. It was fairly heavy for its size, and as such, it was one of the first dinosaurs to begin walking primarily on four legs - although it probably still could have moved about on two legs.

Blikanasaurus represents a unique point in dinosaur evolution as it seems to demonstrate how nature experiments with different designs. In fact, there is still discussion as to whether Blikanasaurus was an evolutionary dead end as some of its characteristics don't appear in later sauropods. One example is that this animal had a greatly reduced fifth metatarsal (foot bone); this bone was much larger in later sauropods and it is not likely that it would have evolved to become larger.

## Links

https://web.archive.org/web/20030803045418fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc\_blika.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20080720024857/http://kids.yahoo.com/dinosaurs/383--Blikanasaurus