Bird-line Archosaurs: Asilisaurus kongwe (within Ornithodira)
Dinosauromorphs Emerge: Erect hind-limb posture leads to birds and dinosaurs.
In a testament to our understanding of evolution, archosaurs emerged around 255 million years ago, eventually giving rise to dinosaurs about 230 million years ago. Bridging this gap, the dinosauromorphs – a transitional group between archosaurs and dinosaurs – evolved approximately 245 million years ago.
One notable early dinosauromorph is Asilisaurus kongwe, found in present-day Tanzania. Exhibiting characteristics intermediate between archosaurs and dinosaurs, Asilisaurus provides crucial insights into the evolutionary steps leading to the rise of dinosaurs.
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Asilisaurus shows that the bird-line archosaurs were already evolving dinosaur-like bodies before true dinosaurs appeared.
Subject: Dinosaur Evolution.
Asilisaurus kongwe lived about 243 to 245 million years ago in what is now Tanzania and sits close to the base of the dinosaur line as a silesaurid dinosauriform. It was not a true dinosaur, but it helps bridge the gap between earlier archosaurs and the later rise of dinosaurs by showing that several “dinosaur-like” traits were already evolving before Dinosauria fully emerged.
What key feature identifies dinosauromorphs from earlier archosaurs?.
Answer. More upright hind limbs beneath the body..
was first published on TST 2 years ago.
