Vulcanodon Characteristics

Vulcanodon measured around 20 feet (6.5 metres) in length and weighed 4 - 5 tons. It had a long neck with a small head and a long whip-like tail. Vulcanodon was a quadrupedal dinosaur who had a bulky body and walked slowly on 4 thick, trunk-like legs. Its front legs were relatively long. Vulcanodon had nail-like claws on its feet and an enlarged claw on each big toe.

Vulcanodon was a herbivore and ate prehistoric plants such as ferns, conifers, horsetails and cycads. Leaves would have been swallowed whole and it probably had gastroliths (stomach stones) in its stomach to help digest tough plant material. It would have had to eat a huge amount of vegetation to sustain its great size. Vulcanodon must have spent most of its time grazing.

Vulcanodon may have been a herd dinosaur, however, as bonebeds of Vulcanodon fossils have not been found, this is uncertain. There life span is still unknown. Vulcanodon probably hatched from eggs like other sauropods, and would have laid the eggs while walking and would not have cared for the eggs. Vulcanodon intelligence (as measured by its relative brain to body weight, or EQ) was the among the lowest of the dinosaurs.

A partial fossil has been found in Mashonaland North, Zimbabwe, Africa. The first fossils of Vulcanodon were found with the tooth sandwiched between volcanic flows, giving it its name. The fossil footprints called Deuterosauropodopus from Lesotho, South Africa, may belong to Vulcanodon.

When Vulcanodon was first discovered, paleontologists were puzzled by the small, sharp teeth scattered among its bones. At first, this was taken as evidence that Vulcanodon might have been a prosauropod (which some experts think ate meat as well as plants), but it was later realized that the teeth probably belonged to a carnivore that tried to have the Vulcanodon for dinner.

Vulcanodon was named by Raath in 1972. The type species is V. dicrocei.