Pantydraco

Pantydraco Temporal range: Late Triassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Sauropodomorpha
Genus:	Pantydraco
Binomial name
Pantydraco caducus Galton, Yates, and Kermack, 2007

Pantydraco (where "panty-" is short for Pant-y-ffynnon, (signifying hollow of the spring/well in Welsh) referring to the quarry at Bonvilston in South Wales where it was found)^[1] was a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Late Triassic of the United Kingdom. It is based on a partial juvenile skeleton once thought to belong to Thecodontosaurus.

History

In 2003, Adam Yates named the new species Thecodontosaurus caducus for a skull and partial skeleton (neck, partial shoulder girdle, and humeri) of a juvenile dinosaur, with additional material known for it. This material had been known in the scientific literature since 1984, and had been used to represent the genus Thecodontosaurus.^[2] However, changed understanding of the relationships and characteristics of basal sauropodomorphs (also known as prosauropods) has led Peter Galton, Yates, and D. Kermack to give T. caducus its own genus.^[3] Named after the Pantyffynnon quarry where it was discovered, Pantydraco is thought to represent a basal sauropodomorph. For this reason it is considered to have most probably been omnivorous as it would represent the change from meat eating ancestors, to plant eating descendants. Pantydraco was also most likely to have still been primarily bipedal.^[4]

Paleobiology

Pantydraco lived during the Late (Upper) Triassic (Rhaetian) Period and perhaps Early Jurassic of what is now the United Kingdom. Pantydraco was a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur and was originally believed to be a juvenile Thecodontosaurus and described from a partial skeleton including a skull in 2003. However, further analysis led to the conclusion and discovery that Pantydracowarranted its own separate genus after a paper was published in 2007. Together with Thecodontosaurus antiquus, it is the basal most sauropodomorph known from Europe.^[5] The Upper Triassic is also known as the Late Triassic period. It is the last and uppermost period from the Triassic group. It comprises three ages (or stages) viz. the Rhaetian, Norian and Carnian in reverse chronological order. The advent of the upper or late Triassic is 237 million years ago and it its end is marked by the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, roughly 201.1 million years ago. The Jurassic period follows the Triassic period. The Jurassic extends from 201 to 145 mya. The Jurassic branches off into three other periods, namely the Lower, Middle and the Late Jurassic periods. The early Jurassic period extends from 201 to 182 million years old. In the early Jurassic period, the supercontinent Pangaea gradually split into two, thus marking significant geological changes. It consists of four stages: the Toarcian, the Pliensbachian, the Sinemurian and the Hettangian, in descending chronological order. The Hettangian is the first stage of the Lower Jurassic period. It extends from the 201.3 to 199.3 million years ago. The Pantydraco dinosaur lived through the Hettangian age.

The Pantydraco lived through the Triassic Jurassic Extinction event. It is one of the rare species of known dinosaurs that survived through the splitting of the Pangaea. This makes it an important dinosaur. In a cladistics study, the Pantydraco could help us understand the relation between the two ecologies of the pre-Jurassic and Jurassic periods.

Thus the Pantydraco is one of the key dinosaurs to understanding evolution and transition. It could also tell us more about the Triassic Jurassic Extinction Event which is one of the biggest extinction events in the geological timeframe of the Earth. The physical aspects of this dinosaur could tell us how it survived while others perished.^[6]

Physical Characteristics

The Pantydraco dinosaur was of moderate built. It was not a huge dinosaur and was about the height of a full grown adult human being. The creature had a long tail that tapered towards the end and was broad at the hip joint. It had a dragon shaped head with a strong jaw. The forelimbs of the dinosaur were developed for grasping prey while the hind limbs were adapted for supporting the creature’s body weight. The center of mass lies near the pelvic bone, meaning the creature was in fact, bipedal. The forelimbs were shorter than the hind limbs. The hands had three movable digits while the fourth digit was embedded. It had well developed claws. It hunted on lesser animals that could be easy prey to this dinosaur’s agility and flexibility. The juvenile fossils’ estimated height is from about 0.7 meters to a meter long. Adults are believed to have been about 3 meters tall. The estimated weight for an average adult of this species of dinosaurs is about 50 kilograms. Thus, the creature was fairly gracile. The teeth were well developed.

The Pantydraco dinosaur was a bipedal creature. It used to run on two legs, its hind limbs. The limbs were stout for supporting the body weight. The creature like all other known prosauropods of that time was either omnivorous or carnivorous. It used to feed on the meat of the small insects and dinosaurs.^[6]

Feeding and Strategies

The diet of Pantydraco would have most likely been herbivorous but there is debate whether Pantydraco would have been an omnivore, it would have walked bipedally. Only one valid species of Pantydraco is recognised; caducus.^[5] It is considered to have most probably been omnivorous as it would represent the change from meat-eating ancestors to plant-eating descendants.^[5]

Etymology

Pantydraco takes its name from the "pant" of Pant-y-ffynnon quarry, meaning a dry valley (see below) and "draco" (a dragon or mythical dragon-like creature in Latin). The species epithet, caducus, means "fallen" in Latin, referring to the assumption that it fell into a fissure fill (quarry) and died there.^[7]

Fossils

The fossils were discovered in 1952, in an underground limestone cave fissure. They consisted of a skull, a partial jawbone, and vertebrae of the cervix, an incomplete right pelvic bone, and partial forelimbs. The fossils are believed to belong to a juvenile or non-adult dinosaur, since the sacral neura are not fused together. The species was first assigned to Thecodontosaurus in 2003 by Adam Yates. The new species was Thecodontosaurus caducus as it could not be assigned to T. antiquus because of minor dissimilarities.

If there were any adaptations to the climatic and geological changes in the earth’s environment, only a detailed study of the fossil data can establish. This would require more data and subsequently more and better preserved and articulated fossils. The fossil remains of the known Pantydraco dinosaurs are those of juveniles. If adult fossils are found, it could help us study this creature more.

Thus, as is the case with a majority of the dinosaurs, a more detailed study of the dinosaur would require fossils. Excavations are being carried out to find more fossils and footprints to establish this creature’s role and importance in its time.^[6]

Location of Discovery

The Pant-y-ffynon quarry is located near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan, in Southern Wales. The quarry is a deep well-like excavation pit. The region is located at the base of a mountain between two rivers. Thus, the region was a characteristic wetland in the ancient era. The area consists of alluvial silts deposited by the rivers and sand and limestone. The climate ranges from arid to semi-humid.^[6]

References

External links

• Publisher's website