Saurischian dinosaurs from the Elliot Formation of South Africa: Anatomy, ecology, and evolution

蜥脚类恐龙起源于三叠纪，并在上三叠世/下侏罗纪经历了最初的辐射。然而，尽管上三叠世腔棘鱼类的出现表明它们的姐妹群，包括所有后来的兽脚亚目，也一定是在那之后出现的，但它们实际上直到中侏罗世才出现在化石记录中。蜥脚类是上三叠世/下侏罗纪许多脊椎动物群的共同代表，但由于保存不完整，它们的阿尔法分类学和系统发育关系都没有得到解决，包括蜥脚类的起源和早期进化问题。因此，新的材料的早期蜥脚类是必要的，以更好地了解最初的辐射蜥脚类和主要群体的起源。南非和莱索托的上三叠统下埃利奥特组和下侏罗纪上埃利奥特组为研究蜥脚类动物群及其当时的环境背景提供了一个独特的机会。艾略特组以其蜥脚类记录而闻名，其中包括已知最古老的蜥脚类动物Antetonitrus和Blikanasaurus，但大多数已知的分类群都是基于零碎的材料，因此很难评估它们的分类多样性和系统发育的重要性。因此，在目前的项目中，计划在埃利奥特组的两个部分进行密集的野外工作，以提高我们对晚三叠世/早侏罗世saurischians的认识。

Saurischian dinosaurs originated in the Triassic and experienced their initial radiation in the Upper Triassic / Lower Jurassic. However, although the appearance of coelophysoids in the Upper Triassic indicates that their sister group, which includes all later theropods, must have been around since then as well, they are virtually absent from the fossil record until the Middle Jurassic. Sauropodomorphs are common representatives of many vertebrate faunas of the Upper Triassic / Lower Jurassic, but, due to often incomplete preservation, neither their alpha taxonomy, nor their phylogenetic relationships are resolved, including the question of the origin and early evolution of sauropods. New material of early saurischians is therefore essential for a better understanding of the initial radiation of saurischians and the origin of major groups. The Upper Triassic Lower Elliot and Lower Jurassic Upper Elliot Formation of South Africa and Lesotho offer a unique opportunity to study saurischian faunas and their environmental context of that time. The Elliot Formation is renowned for its saurischian record, which, among others, includes the oldest known sauropods Antetonitrus and Blikanasaurus, but most taxa known are based on fragmentary material, making an evaluation of their taxonomic diversity and phylogenetic importance difficult. Thus, in the current project, intensive fieldwork in both parts of the Elliot Formation is planned in order to improve our knowledge of Late Triassic / Lower Jurassic saurischians.