Look up · dinosaur 807 of 1,425
early long-neck
Meroktenos
Say it like this: “may-RO-kuh-TAY-noss”
Meroktenos thabanensis
Meroktenos ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Triassic. Bones have been found in Lesotho.
- When
- Late Triassic (Norian · Rhaetian) · roughly 227.3 to 201.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 2016 · Peyre de Fabrègues, C.; Allain, R.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- Not established
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- Lesotho · Elliot
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two or four legs
- Kind
- early long-neck · Sauropodomorph
- Family branch
- Sauropodiformes
The story in short
Meroktenos was formally named in 2016 by C. Peyre de Fabrègues and R. Allain.
It lived in the Late Triassic (Norian · Rhaetian), roughly 227.3 to 201.4 million years ago. Finds come from Lesotho, including the Elliot Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.
The fossils of Meroktenos are too incomplete for a responsible length, hip height, or weight, so those fields are left blank on purpose.
On the family tree it sits in Sauropodiformes, among the early long-necked dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Aardonyx
Aardonyx celestae
Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago
Anchisaurus
Anchisaurus polyzelus
Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago
Blikanasaurus
Blikanasaurus cromptoni
Late Triassic (Norian · Rhaetian) · roughly 227.3 to 201.4 million years ago