Saltopus
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| Saltopus Fossil range: Late Triassic |
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Saltopus ("hopping foot") is a genus of very small bipedal dinosauriform, roughly 60 centimeters (23 in) long, not much bigger than a rabbit, that was discovered in Scotland by Friedrich von Huene in 1910.[1] It was a late Triassic carnivore. Probably the size of a small cat, with hollow bones like those of a bird, it may have weighed in at around two pounds (one kilogram), and (based on related forms) probably had five-fingered hands and a long head with dozens of sharp teeth. None of this can be known for certain, as Saltopus is known only from very poor material (mostly hind limb fragments).
It has been variously identified as a saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaur, a more advanced theropod, and a close relative of the herrerasaurs, but its taxonomy is in dispute because only fragmentary remains have been recovered. Some researchers, such as Paul,[2] have suggested it may represent a juvenile specimen of a coelophysid theropod such as Coelophysis or Procompsognathus. Rauhut and Hungerbühler suggested it is a primitive dinosauriform, not a true dinosaur, closely related to Lagosuchus.[3]
Despite the similarity in the names, Saltopus, Saltasaurus and Saltoposuchus are three totally different extinct reptiles.
[edit] References
- ^ Huene, F.R. (1910). "Ein primitiver Dinosaurier aus der mittleren Trias von Elgin." Geol. Pal. Abh. n. s., 8: 315-322.
- ^ Paul, G.S. (1988). Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. New York: Simon and Schuster. 464 pp.
- ^ Rauhut, O.M.W. and A. Hungerbühler. (2000). "A review of European Triassic theropods." Gaia, 15: 75-88.
