PBDB Taxon

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Malawisaurus dixeyi

Osteichthyes

Taxonomy

Gigantosaurus dixeyi was named by Haughton (1928). Its type specimen is SAM 7405, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Mwakasyunguti, which is in an Aptian fluvial-lacustrine sandstone in the Dinosaur Beds Formation of Malawi. It was considered monophyletic by Gomani (2005).

It was recombined as Tornieria dixeyi by Sternfeld (1911), Stromer (1932), Kuhn (1939), Lavocat (1954), Swinton (1970), Steel (1970), McIntosh (1990); it was recombined as Malawisaurus dixeyi by Jacobs et al. (1993), Jacobs et al. (1996), Calvo and Salgado (1996), Salgado and Calvo (1997), Salgado et al. (1997), Prasad and Sahni (1999), Wilson (2002), Salgado (2003), Calvo and González Riga (2003), Upchurch et al. (2004), Gomani (2005), Apesteguía (2005), Campos et al. (2005), Curry Rogers (2005), Kellner et al. (2006), Medeiros et al. (2007), Castro et al. (2007), Calvo et al. (2007), Filippi and Garrido (2008), Lopes and Buchmann (2008), Zhang et al. (2009), González Riga et al. (2009), García et al. (2010), Casal and Ibiricu (2010), Grellet-Tinner et al. (2011), Díez Díaz et al. (2011), Navarrete et al. (2011), D'Emic (2012), Díez Díaz et al. (2012), Medeiros et al. (2014), Mocho et al. (2014), García et al. (2015), Silva Junior et al. (2017), Gorscak et al. (2017), Simón et al. (2018), Gallina et al. (2021), Navarro et al. (2022).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1911	Tornieria dixeyi Sternfeld
1928	Gigantosaurus dixeyi Haughton pp. 70-72
1932	Tornieria dixeyi Stromer p. 7
1939	Tornieria dixeyi Kuhn p. 87
1954	Tornieria dixeyi Lavocat
1970	Tornieria dixeyi Steel p. 78
1970	Tornieria dixeyi Swinton p. 184
1990	Tornieria dixeyi McIntosh p. 352
1993	Malawisaurus dixeyi Jacobs et al. p. 525
1996	Malawisaurus dixeyi Calvo and Salgado p. 392
1996	Malawisaurus dixeyi Jacobs et al. p. 599
1997	Tornieria dixeya Chinsamy p. 677
1997	Malawisaurus dixeyi Salgado and Calvo pp. 37-38
1997	Malawisaurus dixeyi Salgado et al. p. 5
1999	Malawisaurus dixeyi Prasad and Sahni p. 382
2002	Malawisaurus dixeyi Wilson p. 274
2003	Malawisaurus dixeyi Calvo and González Riga
2003	Malawisaurus dixeyi Salgado p. 442
2004	Malawisaurus dixeyi Upchurch et al. p. 269
2005	Malawisaurus dixeyi Apesteguía p. 253 fig. 12.2
2005	Malawisaurus dixeyi Campos et al. p. 569
2005	Malawisaurus dixeyi Curry Rogers p. 66
2005	Malawisaurus dixeyi Gomani pp. 2-3
2006	Malawisaurus dixeyi Kellner et al. p. 2
2007	Malawisaurus dixeyi Calvo et al. p. 530
2007	Malawisaurus dixeyi Castro et al. p. 198
2007	Malawisaurus dixeyi Medeiros et al. p. 418
2008	Malawisaurus dixeyi Filippi and Garrido p. 583
2008	Malawisaurus dixeyi Lopes and Buchmann p. 70
2009	Malawisaurus dixeyi González Riga et al. p. 141
2009	Malawisaurus dixeyi Zhang et al. p. 220
2010	Malawisaurus dixeyi Casal and Ibiricu p. 253
2010	Malawisaurus dixeyi García et al. p. 415
2011	Malawisaurus dixeyi Díez Díaz et al. p. 522
2011	Malawisaurus dixeyi Grellet-Tinner et al. p. 626
2011	Malawisaurus dixeyi Navarrete et al. p. 8
2012	Malawisaurus dixeyi D'Emic
2012	Malawisaurus dixeyi Díez Díaz et al. p. 265
2014	Malawisaurus dixeyi Medeiros et al. p. 53
2014	Malawisaurus dixeyi Mocho et al.
2015	Malawisaurus dixei Cerda et al. p. 2
2015	Malawisaurus dixeyi García et al. p. 41
2017	Malawisaurus dixeyi Gorscak et al. p. 2
2017	Malawisaurus dixeyi Silva Junior et al. p. 25
2018	Malawisaurus dixeyi Simón et al. p. 7
2021	Malawisaurus dixeyi Gallina et al. p. 36
2022	Malawisaurus dixeyi Navarro et al. p. 327

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Osteichthyes
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)
—	Crocopoda

Rank	Name	Author
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Saurischia	()
—	Eusaurischia
—	Sauropodomorpha	(Huene 1932)
—	Massopoda
—	Sauropodiformes
—	Sauropoda	()
—	Gravisauria
—	Eusauropoda
—	Neosauropoda
—	Macronaria
—	Titanosauriformes
—	Titanosauria
—	Lithostrotia
genus	Malawisaurus
species	dixeyi	()

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

†Malawisaurus dixeyi Haughton 1928

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Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
E. M. Gomani 2005	Malawisaurus is characterized by high-angled premaxillae; posteriorly broad, angled infratemporal fenestrae; short and divergent basipterygoid processes; dentary with 15 alveoli that extend two thirds the length of the element; thin splenial with a spenial foramen; broad but not spoon-shaped teeth with high-angled wear facets; undivided cervical neural spines and pleurocoels; cervical prezygapophyses extend beyond the anterior end of the centrum; presence of pre- and post-spinal laminae in distal cervicals; ribs in proximal and middle cervicals extend beyond the end of the succeeding centrum; elongate, eye-shaped pleurocoels on dorsal vertebrae; infradiapophyseal laminae of distal dorsals not forked; six sacral vertebrae; sacral neural spines fused into a dorsal plate that overhangs the neural arches; strongly procoelous proximal but platycoelous middle and distal caudals; proximal caudals with well-developed pre-spinal and post-spinal laminae; at least five V-shaped middle chevrons; and metacarpals with distal articular facets.

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteinfrao

Entire body:

yesinfrao

Adult length:

10 to < 100infrao

Adult width:

10 to < 100infrao

Adult height:

10 to < 100infrao

Thickness:

thickinfrao

Architecture:

compact or denseinfrao

Form:

sphericalinfrao

Ontogeny:

accretion, modification of partsinfrao

Grouping:

gregariousinfrao

Environment:

terrestrialinfrao

Locomotion:

actively mobileinfrao

Life habit:

ground dwellinginfrao

Diet:

herbivoreinfrao

Reproduction:

oviparousinfrao

Dispersal:

direct/internalinfrao

Dispersal 2:

mobileinfrao

Created:

2004-12-14 12:49:10

Modified:

2004-12-14 14:49:10

Source: infrao = infraorder

References: Kiessling 2004, Marsh 1875

Age range: Aptian or 121.40000 to 113.20000 Ma

Collections (8 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Aptian	121.4 - 113.2	Malawi (Northern)	Dinosauria indet. (type locality: 89853) Gigantosaurus dixeyi (38912 38916) Malawisaurus dixeyi (50897 50898 50899 50900 50901)