Aardonyx celestae

†Aardonyx celestae was a transitional prosauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic (~195 Ma) of South Africa. About 7m long, it shows anatomical features intermediate between bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion. A herbivore, it was named by Yates et al. in 2010. Its name means 'earth claw' in Afrikaans and Greek.

Time Period

Jurassic Early Mesozoic Era

Aardonyx celestae lived during the Jurassic Early period of the Mesozoic Era, approximately 201.4 to 174.7 million years ago.

After the Triassic-Jurassic extinction, dinosaurs rapidly diversified and became the dominant land vertebrates. Early sauropods and theropods began to evolve larger body sizes.