| Lamplughsaura Temporal range: Early Jurassic, Hettangian to Sinemurian 201.4–192.9Ma | |
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| An artist illustration of Lamplughsaura. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Anchisauria |
| Genus: | †Lamplughsaura Kutty et al.,2007 |
| Species: | †L. dharmaramensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Lamplughsaura dharmaramensis Kutty et al.,2007 | |
Lamplughsaura(Lam-Plo-Saura) is a extinct genus of sauropodomorph that lived in Early Jurassic of Upper Dharmaram Formation of Telangana, India. The type and the only known species is L. dharmaramensis.
Description[]
Skull of Lamplughsaura dharmaramensis.
It is known from partial post cranial skeletons of at least 4 distinct individuals that are founded together in the same locality. It was a relatively large quadreped that was 10 meters (33 ft) long, making it just 1 metre smaller than the Lishulong. Though none of the known specimens belong to a fully grown adult due to the presence unfused sutures on the cervical vertebrae, even the largest known individual was a subadult when it died, thus making it possible that the largest individual of the species may be even bigger. It is also the most complete and the largest known Prosauropod from India.
Discovery and Naming[]
The specimes attributed to Lamplughsaura were discovered in Dharmaram Pranhita-Godavari basin of Telangana, India by Tharavati S. Kutty in 1969. In 2007 He and his colleagues described the fossils as a new genus and species of Anchisaurian Sauropodomorph, Lamplughsaura dharmaramensis, where the genus name "Lamplugh" is after Pamela Lamplugh Robinson, who helped in establishing the Indian Statistical Institute, "saura" is the female suffix of the word saurus, which is the greek word for lizard and the species name "dharmaramensis" is after the Dharmaram Formation.
Classification[]
Lamplughsaura is currently classified as an Anchisaurian Sauropodomorph.
Paleoecology[]
Since Lamplughsaura was discovered in the outcrops of Lower Dharmaram Formation that date back to Early Jurassic Period, it have interacted with alot of archosaurs, fellow Sauropodomorphs like Pradhania gracilis and an indeterminate form, and hunted by Neotheropod like a Dilophosaurus-like form and a Pseudosuchia like a Dibothrosuchus-like form.