a type of massopodan sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of South Africa.
Pronunciation: GRIP-on-iks
Meaning: Hooked claw
Author/s: Broom (
1911)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Free State, South Africa
Discovery Chart Position: #100
Gryponyx africanus
(African curved claw)Etymology
Gryponyx is derived from the Greek "grypos" (hooked, curved) and "onyx" (talon, claw), referring to its large, curved thumb-claw.
The
species epithet,
africanus, refers to it discovery in Africa.
Discovery
The remains of
Gryponyx were discovered in the Upper Elliot Formation (Stormberg Group) on the farm of Mr. J. L. Harries at Foutani, near Fouriesburg, Orange Free State, South Africa.
The
holotype (SAM 3357-59) is a partial skeleton including both hands, most of the back vertebrae, the whole pelvis, both hind limbs, and the right foot. Apparently, the tail was also present, but it couldn't be removed "except at very great expence" due to it "passing straight into the cliff".
• Broom R (1911) "
On the dinosaurs of the Stormberg, South Africa".
Annals of the South African Museum, 7(4): 291-308.
• Broom R (1912) "
On the remains of a theropodous dinosaur from the northern Transvaal".
Transactions of the Geological Society of South Africa, 14: 82-83. [coins Gryponyx transvaalensis.]
• Haughton SH (1924) "
The fauna and stratigraphy of the Stormberg Series".
Annals of the South African Museum, 12: 323-497. [coins Gryponyx taylori.]
• Galton PM and Cluver MA (1976) "
Anchisaurus capensis (Broom) and a revision of the Anchisauridae (Reptilia, Saurischia)".
Annals of the South African Museum, 69(6): 121-159.
• Cooper MR (1981) "The prosauropod dinosaur
Massospondylus carinatus Owen from Zimbabwe: its biology, mode of life and phylogenetic significance".
Occasional Papers of the National Museums and Monuments of Rhodesia, Series B, Natural Sciences, 6(10): 689-840.
• Galton PM and Upchurch P (2004) "Prosauropoda". Page 232-258 in Weishampel, Dodson and Osmólska (eds.) "
The Dinosauria: Second Edition".
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
GRYPONYX :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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