Leyesaurus marayensis (PVSJ 706, Apaldetti et al. 2011, 2.5 m long) is a new dinosaur from the Latest Triassic of Argentina. It was originally described as as a small basal sauropodomorph known from a partial disarticulated skeleton and most of the skull bones and close to Massospondylus. That study nested Pantydraco closer to Saturnalia and Eoraptor while Leyesaurus nested much higher in the family tree.
Here Leyesaurus nests closer to Pampadromaeus, but was twice as long and closer to the base of the Sauropomorpha and the Ornithischia. Note the resemblance to Daemonosaurus in the skull and elongate cervicals. Pampadromaeus and Daemonosaurus were not included in the Apaldetti et al., but then they included many more sauropodomorphs than are tested here. |
