Aristosaurus

Aristosaurus Temporal range: Early Jurassic, Pliensbachian–Toarcian 192.9–174.7 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Aristosaurus holotype specimen
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Eusaurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Genus:	†Aristosaurus van Hoepen, 1920[1]
Species
†A. erectus van Hoepen, 1920[1]

Aristosaurus is a dubious genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. Its only species is A. erectus. Aristosaurus was named by Egbert Cornelis Nicolaas van Hoepen in 1920 based on a nearly complete skeleton found by quarry workers in the Clarens Formation in South Africa, and assigned to the family Anchisauridae. It was later assigned to the genera Gyposaurus and Massospondylus, but has been listed as an indeterminate (dubious) sauropodomorph by two recent reviews. The only specimen might have been a juvenile individual as indicated by its small size. The strongly flattened skeleton, which is preserved on two slabs, is exhibited in the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History in Pretoria.