The type species, Hortalotarsus skirtopodus was named by Harry Seeley in 1894, initially as a species of Thecodontosaurus.[4] The holotype is AM 455,[5] consisting today of only a tibia, fibula and phalanges, although more of the skeleton was initially present, including ribs, possible vertebrae, a possible ilium, a possible femur, a possible scapula and a possible humerus,[4][6] which was discovered by William Horner Wallace on 11 July 1888 in Eagle's Crag, Barkly East.[7]
According to Robert Broom (1911), "Originally most of the skeleton was in the rock, and it was regarded by the farmers as the skeleton of a Bushman, but it is said to have been destroyed through fear that a Bushman skeleton in the rock might tend to weaken the religious belief of the rising generation."[6] Seeley however, states that most of the skeleton was lost by a failed attempt to free it from the rock by using gunpowder.[4] Some partial leg bones were salvaged.[8]
Description
Hortalotarsus would have been similar to Massospondylus,[8] reaching around 3 metres (9.8 ft) long when fully grown.
Classification
Hortalotarsus was subsequently regarded as either a synonym of Massospondylus[5] or a valid genus belonging to Anchisauridae.[9][10]Galton and Cluver (1976) as well as Galton and Upchurch (2004), however, designated this genus a nomen dubium.[8][11]
^ abM. R. Cooper. (1981). The prosauropod dinosaur Massospondylus carinatusOwen 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
^ abBroom R. (1911). On the dinosaurs of the Stormberg, South Africa. Annals of the South African Museum 7:291-308.
^H. G. Seeley. (1892). Contribution to a knowledge of the Saurischia of Europe and Africa. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London48:188-191
^ abcdP. M. Galton and P. Upchurch. (2004). Prosauropoda. In D. B. Weishampel, P. Dodson, and H. Osmolska (eds.), The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley 232-258.
^B. F. Nopcsa. (1928). The genera of reptiles. Palaeobiologica 1:163-188.
^R. Steel. (1970). Part 14. Saurischia. Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie/Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart 1-87
^P. M. Galton and M. A. Cluver. (1976). Anchisauruscapensis (Broom) and a revision of the Anchisauridae (Reptilia, Saurischia). Annals of the South African Museum 69(6):121-159
