Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia - Sauropodomorpha - Prosauropoda
Time Period: Early Jurassic
Location: North America & Africa
Diet: Herbivore
Two species of this Lower Jurassic dinosaur have been identified; the first clocks in at around eight feet long and sixty pounds, and the other comes in around eight to 13 feet long. Their remains have been found in both North America and Africa, and some curious-looking track-ways as far north as Nova Scotia may belong to an Anchisaurus. Anchisaurus had narrower feet than most prosauropods, and while it probably spent most of its time on all fours, it could rear up on its hind legs to reach higher vegetation. Its blunt, spoon-shaped teeth numbered fewer than most prosauropods, and its body would’ve hugged the ground while it walked.
Its name means “Close Lizard,” named by Charles Marsh, who suspected that Anchisaurus was a “transitional creature” or “missing link” between primitive dinosaurs and the more derived kinds. While this title is no longer relevant (we know that Anchisaurus showed up near the end of the first quarter of dinosaur history), it may yet prove to be apt, on two accounts. Anchisaurus didn’t jump-start the dinosaur family tree, but it may have been a “link” between prosauropoda and sauropoda; furthermore, some scientists even argue that Anchisaurus may have been a progenitor of the ornithischian (or “bird-hipped”) dinosaurs. This connection, they argue, is seen in a flurry of peculiar characteristics shared between them and early ornithopods. Ornithischian origins remains a mystery, but perhaps Marsh was onto something after all, though not in a way he anticipated: Anchisaurus may be a “missing link” in ornithischian origins.
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