Named By: | Galton and van Heerden in 1985 |
Time Period: | Late Triassic |
Location: | South Africa - Cape Province - Elliot Formation |
Size: | Unknown due to lack of fossils |
Diet: | Herbivore |
Fossil(s): | Left lower hind leg |
Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Dinosauria | Saurischia | Sauropodomorpha | |
Blikanasaurus (meaning "Blikana lizard") was a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur found in Lower Elliot Formation rocks from the Late Triassic near the Blikana location in what is now South Africa's Eastern Cape Province. The type specimen is housed in the South African Museum in Cape Town. Known from a left lower limb only, it has been variously classified as a prosauropod or basal sauropod. The type species, Blikanasaurus cromptoni, was first described by Galton and van Heerden in 1985. It is the type genus of the Family Blikanasauridae. The species name is in honour of Dr AW (Fuzz) Crompton, then director of the South African Museum, thereafter at Yale and Harvard.