Monkonosaurus Temporal range: Late Jurassic, | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | † Ornithischia |
Clade: | † Thyreophora |
Clade: | † Stegosauria |
Genus: | † Monkonosaurus Zhao, 1986 |
Species: | †M. lawulacus |
Binomial name | |
†Monkonosaurus lawulacus Zhao, 1986 | |
Monkonosaurus (meaning "Monkon lizard") is a dubious genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous-aged Loe-ein Formation of Tibet (or the Early Cretaceous Lura Formation of China). Some sources place it as alive during the Oxfordian - Albian stages, around 163 - 100 million years ago, [1] although Monkonosaurus was probably only alive during the Late Jurassic (163 – 152.1 ± 0.9 million years ago), making it among the earliest known stegosaurs along with Chungkingosaurus and Bashanosaurus . [2]
The genus was formalized by Zhao Xijin in 1986. [1] The generic name refers to Markam County, also known as Monko. [3] Zhao at the time gave neither a description, meaning the name remained a nomen nudum , nor a specific name. The latter was provided in 1986 when the type species Monkonosaurus lawulacus was named, the epithet referring to the Lawushan, the Lawu mountains. The first description was provided in 1990 by Dong Zhiming. [4]
The holotype, IVPP V 6975, was found in a layer of the Loe-ein Formation dating probably from the Late Jurassic, [4] or from the Early Cretaceous Lura Formation. [5] It consists of a partial skeleton lacking the skull. It contains a pelvis with sacrum, two vertebrae and three back plates. The fragmentary condition of this single skeleton places doubt on the validity of this genus, with some studies concluding it is a nomen dubium . [2]
Monkonosaurus was about 5 metres (16 ft) long when fully grown. [4] The ilium has a length of 905 millimetres. The sacrum consists of five sacral vertebrae. [4]
Zhao (1983) placed Monkonosaurus in the now obsolete Oligosacralosauroidea. [3] Later researchers considered it an indeterminate member of the Stegosauridae. [2]
Stegosaurus is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been found in the western United States and in Portugal, where they are found in Kimmeridgian- to Tithonian-aged strata, dating to between 155 and 145 million years ago. Of the species that have been classified in the upper Morrison Formation of the western US, only three are universally recognized: S. stenops, S. ungulatus and S. sulcatus. The remains of over 80 individual animals of this genus have been found. Stegosaurus would have lived alongside dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Camarasaurus and Allosaurus, the latter of which may have preyed on it.
Kentrosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic in Lindi Region of Tanzania. The type species is K. aethiopicus, named and described by German palaeontologist Edwin Hennig in 1915. Often thought to be a "primitive" member of the Stegosauria, several recent cladistic analyses find it as more derived than many other stegosaurs, and a close relative of Stegosaurus from the North American Morrison Formation within the Stegosauridae.
Dacentrurus, originally known as Omosaurus, is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous of Europe. Its type species, Omosaurus armatus, was named in 1875, based on a skeleton found in a clay pit in the Kimmeridge Clay in Swindon, England. In 1902 the genus was renamed Dacentrurus because the name Omosaurus had already been used for a crocodylian. After 1875, half a dozen other species would be named but perhaps only Dacentrurus armatus is valid. Finds of this animal have been limited and much of its appearance is uncertain. It was a heavily built quadrupedal herbivore, adorned with plates and spikes, reaching 8–9 metres (26–30 ft) in length and 5 metric tons in body mass.
Chialingosaurus is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur similar to Kentrosaurus from the Upper Shaximiao Formation, Late Jurassic beds in Sichuan Province in China. Its age makes it one of the oldest species of stegosaurs, living about 160 million years ago. Since it was an herbivore, scientists think that Chialingosaurus probably ate ferns and cycads, which were plentiful during the period when Chialingosaurus was alive.
Crichtonsaurus is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now China. It was named after Michael Crichton, the author of the dinosaur novel Jurassic Park. A sister taxon was discovered, C. benxiensis, which is now identified as a separate genus.
Wuerhosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of China and Mongolia. As such, it was one of the last genera of stegosaurians known to have existed.
Tuojiangosaurus is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period, recovered from the Upper Shaximiao Formation of what is now Sichuan Province in China.
Tugulusaurus is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur that belongs to the Alvarezsauroidea. It is known from the Early Cretaceous Tugulu Group in the Urhe area of the People's Republic of China. It was one of the first members of Alvarezsauria ever discovered.
Stegosaurides is a genus of herbivorous thyreophoran dinosaur. It lived during the Cretaceous. Its fossils were found in the Xinminbao Group near Heishan in Gansu Province in China. These fossils consist of fragmentary material, including dermal spine elements. The genus is occasionally misspelled as "Stegosauroides".
Xuanhuaceratops is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period. The genus was in 2006 dated to the Tithonian, 150.8-145.5 million years ago. A member of the family Chaoyangsauridae, it was one of the earliest ceratopsians. The fossils were found in the Houcheng Formation of Hebei Province, northeastern China.
Stegosauria is a group of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods. Stegosaurian fossils have been found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, predominantly in what is now North America, Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. Their geographical origins are unclear; the earliest unequivocal stegosaurian, Huayangosaurus taibaii, lived in China.
Chungkingosaurus, meaning "Chongqing Lizard", is a genus of herbivorous dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Upper Shaximiao Formation in what is now China. It is a member of the Stegosauria.
Gigantspinosaurus is a genus of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. It was a stegosaur found in China.
Yingshanosaurus is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, around 155 million years ago. It was a herbivore that lived in what is now China. The type species is Yingshanosaurus jichuanensis.
Dongyangosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. The only species is Dongyangosaurus sinensis, from which only a single fragmentary skeleton is known, coming from the Zhejiang province of eastern China. It was described and named by Lü Junchang and colleagues. Like other sauropods, Dongyangosaurus would have been a large quadrupedal herbivore.
The Lura Formation is a geological formation in western China, which outcrops in Tibet, whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Alcovasaurus, alternatively known as Miragaia longispinus, is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic. It was found in the Morrison Formation of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. The type species is Stegosaurus longispinus, later given the genus Alcovasaurus, and in 2019 recombined as Miragaia longispinus.
This timeline of stegosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the stegosaurs, the iconic plate-backed, spike-tailed herbivorous eurypod dinosaurs that predominated during the Jurassic period. The first scientifically documented stegosaur remains were recovered from Early Cretaceous strata in England during the mid-19th century. However, they would not be recognized as a distinct group of dinosaurs until Othniel Charles Marsh described the new genus and species Stegosaurus armatus in 1877, which he regarded as the founding member of the Stegosauria. This new taxon originally included all armored dinosaurs. It was not until 1927 that Alfred Sherwood Romer implemented the modern use of the name Stegosauria as specifically pertaining to the plate-backed and spike-tailed dinosaurs.
Mongolostegus is a genus of stegosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) Dzunbain Formation of Mongolia. The type and only species is M. exspectabilis, known from a single specimen previously under the nomen nudumWuerhosaurus mongoliensis.