Nearing 4 Footedness

©Matthew Bonnan

The skeleton of Aardonyx is incomplete; however, there are a number of very similar recreations of the animal based on what limited skeletal material has been recovered. Regardless of the amount of material, the recreations are always presented with large nares and domed snouts. The long neck and tail are known as are the claws that give the name to the animal. In their placement and orientation those claws are more like the extended hand claws of Baryonyx rather than those of Iguanodon. The stance of the dinosaur is always bipedal but with the center of gravity very clearly near the center of the thoracic area. The stance is very close to quadrupedal walking and definitely shows a good transitional sort of gait as the weight forces the bipedal to quadrupedal stance. The rather long tail counterbalances that upfront center of gravity.