Schleitheimia

Say it like this: “shlyt-HY-mee-uh”

Schleitheimia schutzi

Schleitheimia ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Triassic. Bones have been found in Switzerland.

Quiz me on Schleitheimia

When: Late Triassic (Norian) · roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago
Named in: 2020 · Rauhut, O. W. M.; Holwerda, F. M.; Furrer, H.
Hip height: 1.6 m · 5 ft
Length: 6.5 m · 21 ft
Weight: 550 kg · 1,213 lb
Found in: Switzerland · Klettgau
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two or four legs
Kind: early long-neck · Sauropodomorph
Family branch: Sauropodiformes

The story in short

In 2020, O. W. M. Rauhut and colleagues published the name Schleitheimia. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

It lived in the Late Triassic (Norian), roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago. Finds come from Switzerland, including the Klettgau Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.

Published estimates put Schleitheimia at a length near 6.5 m, hips about 1.6 m high, and a body mass around 550 kg.

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