Genus
Valid Extinct

Vulcanodon

Raath 1972

Vulcanodon is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic uppermost Forest Sandstone of southern Africa. The only known species is V. karibaensis. Discovered in 1969 in Zimbabwe, it was regarded as the earliest known sauropod for decades, and is still one of the most primitive genera that has been discovered.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Vulcanodon
click to enlarge
Skeletal diagram showing known material of Vulcanodon karibaensis. Based on figured and measurements on Raath 1972 and Cooper 1984. Unknown materials based on Shunosaurus (from Zhang 1988), Tazoudasaurus (from Allain & Aquesbi 2008 and Peyer & Allain 2010) and Rhoetosaurus (from Longmann 1926). Unfigured rib, chevron and cervical fragments not illustrated. Scale bar = 1 meter © IJReid · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
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Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
›
Saurischia Unranked clade
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Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
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Massopoda Unranked clade
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Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
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Sauropoda Unranked clade
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Vulcanodon Genus
Measurements
Length
6,5 m ⓘ
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
1
Geological formations
Forest Sandstone
1
Temporal distribution
Pliensbachian (192.9–184.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Vulcanodon karibaensis 200 Ma
Images 4
Bibliography
Original description
M. A. Raath. 1972. Fossil vertebrate studies in Rhodesia: a new dinosaur (Reptilia: Saurischia) from near the Tria-Jurassic boundary. Arnoldia 5(31):1-37
Bibliography (1)
M. A. Raath. 1972. Fossil vertebrate studies in Rhodesia: a new dinosaur (Reptilia: Saurischia) from near the Tria-Jurassic boundary. Arnoldia 5(31):1-37