Aardonyx

Classification – Aardonyx is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur.

Location – South Africa

Lived – 201.3 million years ago – 190.8 million years ago

Time period – Hattangian to Sinemurian of the Jurassic.

Size – Medium-sized sauropod, measuring around 10 meters in length and weighing around 5 tonnes.

Discovery – It was first discovered by paleontologist Prof Paul Sereno in 2009. Aardonyx was found on a farm in the Senekal district of Free State and was discovered in 2004. The farm was owned by Cobus Visser who gave his permission for the dig.

”It’s one of the big jewels South Africa has,” Dr Adam Yates, from the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, told journalists in Johannesburg.

The dinosaur, Aardonyx Celestae, was named after Yate’s wife, Celeste, who was responsible for removing the bones from its casing of concrete-like rock.

”She spent over two years and two pregnancies removing the rock,” said Yates.

The rock also provided the other part of the dinosaur’s name, Aardonyx which means ”earth claw”.

Diet – Aardonyx was a herbivore. Aardonyx shows a transition toward the bulk-browsing form of feeding characteristic of sauropods.

Habitat – During the Early Jurassic Period, the area now known as South Africa’s Free State province was part of a massive supercontinent called Gondwana.

Aardonyx’s habitat was likely characterized by abundant vegetation and water sources, surrounded by floodplains and large river systems that attracted a wide variety of other prehistoric animals.