Melanorosauridae

Melanorosauridae Temporal range: Triassic-Jurassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Sauropodomorpha
Family:	Melanorosauridae von Huene, 1929
Genera
Camelotia Lessemsaurus Melanorosaurus

The Melanorosauridae were a family of sauropodomorph dinosaurs which lived during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. The name Melanorosauridae was first coined by Friedrich von Huene in 1929. Huene assigned several families of dinosaurs to the infraorder Prosauropoda: the Anchisauridae, the Plateosauridae, the Thecodontosauridae, and the Melanorosauridae. Since then, these families have undergone numerous revisions. Galton and Upchurch (2004) considered Camelotia, Lessemsaurus, and Melanorosaurus members of the family. A more recent study by Yates (2007) indicates that the melanorosaurs were instead early sauropods. The two members of the Riojasauridae, Riojasaurus and Eucnemesaurus, have also been placed in Melanorosauridae, which would render the Riojasauridae an invalid taxon.

References

• Galton, P.M & Upchurch, P. (2004). "Prosauropoda". In D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, & H. Osmólska (eds.), The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley 232-258.
• Yates, Adam M. (2007), "The first complete skull of the Triassic dinosaur Melanorosaurus Haughton (Sauropodomorpha: Anchisauria)", in Barrett, Paul M. & Batten, David J., Special Papers in Palaeontology, vol. 77, pp. 9–55, ISBN 9781405169332

Dinosaurs portal