Vulcanodon (meaning "volcano tooth") is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. The only known species is V. karibaensis. Discovered in 1969 in Zimbabwe, it was regarded as the earliest-known sauropod for decades, and is still one of the most primitive sauropods that has been discovered. As a quadrupedal, ground-dwelling herbivore, Vulcanodon already showed the typical sauropod body plan with column-like legs and a long neck and tail. It was smaller than most other sauropods, measuring approximately in length. Vulcanodon is known from a fragmentary skeleton including much of the pelvic girdle, hindlimbs, forearms, and tail, but lacking the trunk and neck vertebrae as well as the skull. Originally, this genus was believed to be a prosauropod because of the knife-shaped teeth found near its fossils, which fit in with the idea that prosauropods were omnivorous. Scientists now know that the teeth belonged to an unidentified theropod that may have scavenged on the Vulcanodon carcass. Vulcanodon is now known to be a true sauropod. Upon the discovery of the related Tazoudasaurus, both animals were unified in the family Vulcanodontidae, though this has not been universally accepted. Description Vulcanodon was initially thought have been a small sauropod. In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at eleven metres, its weight at 3.5 tonnes. Some books mention lower estimates of approximately . However, in 2018, researchers have estimated a greater body mass of . The thighbone was long. As one of the earliest and basalmost sauropods, it is important for understanding the early evolution of this group. Sauropods descend from basal sauropodomorphs (informally called "prosauropods"), which were primitively bipedal (two-legged). While Vulcanodon already was fully quadrupedal (four-legged), its limb proportions were intermediate between those of its prosauropod ancestors and those of later, more derived sauropods. Its forelimbs were much more similar to later sauropods than basal sauropodomorphs because they are straight, much more gracile, and the proximal end of the ulna is v-shaped. Unfortunately, no skull or neck of Vulcanodon is known, although it is otherwise very well known. Hindlimbs and pelvis Vulcanodons limbs were sturdy and column-like, and its forelimbs were already proportionally long, reaching 76% of hindlimb length. Its lower leg, metatarsus, and toes were shortened in comparison to its bipedal ancestors, but still not as short as in later sauropods. The sacrum was made out of four fused sacral vertebrae; "prosauropods" possessed only