List of sauropodomorph type specimens
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This list of specimens is a comprehensive catalogue of all the type specimens and their scientific designations for each of the genera and species that are included in the clade sauropodomorpha.
Sauropodomorpha is a clade of saurischian dinosaurs that includes the largest land animals to have ever existed on Earth, such as Argentinosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Patagotitan. The clade "sauropodomorpha" was created based on the earlier-named and slightly more exclusive clade, Sauropoda. This clade was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878 and it translates to "lizard feet", in reference to the fact that sauropods were unique among the dinosaurs known at the time for having five toes, instead of three (such as in theropods and ornithopods).[1] "Sauropodomorpha" then roughly translates to "in the likeness of the lizard feet". The first sauropodomorph to be described was Cardiodon, named by Sir Richard Owen, although he did not recognize at the time that it was a dinosaur.[2]
Sauropodomorphs were one of the first groups of dinosaurs to appear, originating in the late Triassic period.[3] While ancestrally bipedal, sauropodomorphs increased in mass throughout the Triassic and quadrupedal forms evolved.[4] In the Jurassic period, the first unequivocal sauropods appeared.[5] Thereafter, sauropods lived until the end of the Cretaceous period,[6] and were present on every continent, including Antarctica.[7] The largest sauropods have been estimated to weigh at least 70 metric tons,[8] larger than any other animals besides the largest cetaceans,[9] and possibly even larger.[10]