Hortalotarsus

Hortalotarsus is a poorly understood genus of early sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. Its only named species is *Hortalotarsus skirtopodus*. The genus was established in 1894 by Harry Seeley, who based it on pieces of a hind limb found at 'Eagle's Crag', Barkly East, South Africa. These fragments are all that remain of a larger skeleton, locally called the 'Bushman fossil', which was mostly destroyed when gunpowder was used to try to extract the bones from the surrounding slate.

The surviving parts of the holotype, catalogued as BMNH R 286, include the tibia, fibula, tarsal bones, metatarsals, and toe bones. The tibia and fibula are still attached to each other, with the tibia measuring 20 centimeters long. The upper row of tarsals contains the astragalus, calcaneum, and what Seeley identified as a small navicular bone—a feature he noted was unusual among dinosaurs, comparing it to the navicular of birds. The lower row likely had four bones, though only the third cuneiform and cuboid are preserved. The first toe is missing, the second is known only from an impression, the third has its metatarsal and a partial first phalanx, the fourth retains its metatarsal and three complete phalanges, and the fifth is very reduced, consisting of just one phalanx.

The specimen was discovered on 11 June 1888 by Mr. William Horner Wallace at a site called "Eagle's Crag" in Barkly East, though the exact location is not known. It came from the Clarens Formation, which formed over about 10 million years during the Pliensbachian and early Toarcian ages, roughly 192 to 181 million years ago. Originally, the skeleton was enclosed in a block of slate. A drawing by Mr. D. Rudlin showed parts of several bones protruding from the rock, including eleven back vertebrae, ribs, probable shoulder blades, a possible humerus, ilia, a tibia, a femur, and a metatarsus. Robert Broom later reported in 1911 that rumors claimed farmers had destroyed the specimen because they feared a Bushman skeleton in the rock might weaken the religious beliefs of the young. Two surviving hind-limb fragments were given to Seeley, who prepared them and named *Hortalotarsus skirtopodus* in 1894. The genus name comes from Greek words meaning 'young fowl' and 'tarsus', referring to the unfused navicular bone, which resembles the condition in embryonic birds.