Zigongosaurus

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Zigongosaurus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade:† Sauropodomorpha
Clade:† Sauropoda
Family:† Mamenchisauridae
Genus:† Zigongosaurus
Hou, Zhou, & Chao, 1976
Species:
†Z. fuxiensis
Binomial name
†Zigongosaurus fuxiensis
Hou, Zhou, & Chao, 1976
Synonyms

Zigongosaurus (meaning "Zigong lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic-Late Jurassic-age Shaximiao Formation of Zigong, Sichuan, China. Because of incomplete knowledge of Jurassic Chinese sauropods, it has been hard to interpret, with some sources assigning it to Omeisaurus , some to Mamenchisaurus , and some to its own genus.

Contents

History and taxonomy

The genus was based on CV 02501, [1] a specimen including a partial mandible, maxilla, and basioccipital (a bone from the braincase region). Additional bones from all areas of the skeleton, belonging to multiple individuals, were also described and assigned to the new genus. The authors thought it resembled Omeisaurus, but was distinct based on vertebral details. [2] Early accounts in the popular press suggested it was a brachiosaurid. [3] [4] [5]

Chinese sauropod taxonomy became increasingly convoluted in the 1980s. In 1983, Dong, Zhou, and Zhang named a species Omeisaurus fuxiensis, which they based on different material than Zigongosaurus fuxiensis, but then suggested that the two were the same animal. [6] Following this, the genus was thought to belong to Omeisaurus, [7] possibly as a synonym of O. junghsiensis. [8] In the mid-1990s, opinion shifted, and the genus was instead assigned, by Zhang and Chen, to Mamenchisaurus. They noted that it came from a stratigraphic level between the usual Omeisaurus and Mamenchisaurus beds in age, but more closely resembled Mamenchisaurus. In particular, the neural spines of the vertebrae (the part of the vertebra that sticks up, over the passage for the spinal cord) in both genera have distinctive weak bifurcation, or splitting, that is not found in Omeisaurus. The authors renamed it Mamenchisaurus fuxiensis. [9] This assignment was followed provisionally in the most recent major review of sauropods, [10] but at least one author (Valérie Martin-Rolland) has found it to be a distinct genus. [11]

Paleobiology

Whichever genus it turns out to be, as a mamenchisaur- or omeisaur-like sauropod it would have been a large, quadrupedal herbivore with a long neck. [10] It is regarded as a medium- to large-sized sauropod, [9] with a length of around 15 meters (50 feet). [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Mamenchisaurus</i> Sauropod dinosaur genus from Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous Period

Mamenchisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known for their remarkably long necks which made up nearly half the total body length. Numerous species have been assigned to the genus; however, the validity of these assignments has been questioned. Fossils have been found in the Sichuan Basin and Yunnan Province in China. Several species from the Upper Shaximiao Formation, whose geologic age is uncertain, have been described. However, evidence suggests this formation to be no earlier than the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic. M. sinocanadorum dates to the Oxfordian stage, and M. anyuensis to the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Most species were medium-large to large sauropods, measuring roughly 15 to 26 meters in length—possibly up to 35 meters (115 ft), based on two undescribed vertebrae.

<i>Vulcanodon</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Vulcanodon is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Uppermost Forest Sandstone 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 eleven metres (36 ft) 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.

<i>Abrosaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Abrosaurus is a genus of macronarian sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period of what is now Asia, one of many dinosaurs found at the Dashanpu Quarry in the Sichuan Province of China. Like most sauropods, Abrosaurus was a quadrupedal herbivore but it was rather small for a sauropod, not much more than 30 feet (9.1 m) long. Its head was boxy and topped with a tall bony arch containing the nostrils.

<i>Shunosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Shunosaurus, meaning "Lizard from Sichuan", is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) beds in Sichuan Province in China, from 161 to 157 Million years ago. The name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for the Sichuan province.

<i>Omeisaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Omeisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period of what is now China. Its name comes from Mount Emei, where it was discovered in the lower Shaximiao Formation of Sichuan Province.

<i>Datousaurus</i> Extinct species of reptile

Datousaurus was a dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. It was a sauropod collected from the Lower Shaximiao Formation in Dashanpu, Zigong Sichuan province, China. It shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with other sauropods such as Shunosaurus, Omeisaurus, Protognathosaurus, the ornithopod Xiaosaurus, the early stegosaur Huayangosaurus as well as the carnivorous Gasosaurus.

<i>Neosodon</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<i>Szechuanosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Szechuanosaurus is an extinct genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. Fossils referred to the genus have been found in China, Asia in the Oxfordian-?Tithonian. Its type species is based on several undiagnostic teeth from the Kuangyuan Series. Additional possible specimens of Szechuanosaurus were also reported from the Kalaza Formation, also located in China.

Daanosaurus was a genus of dinosaur. It was a sauropod which lived during the Late Jurassic. It lived in what is now China, and was similar to Bellusaurus.

Gongbusaurus is a genus of ornithischian, perhaps ornithopod, dinosaur that lived between about 160 and 157 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic period. A small herbivore, it is very poorly known. Two species have been assigned to it, but as the original name is based on teeth, there is no concrete evidence to connect the two species. Its fossils have been found in China.

Gongxianosaurus is a genus of basal sauropod dinosaur from the early Jurassic Period. The only species is Gongxianosaurus shibeiensis. Based on four fragmentary to complete specimens found in China, it is one of the most completely known early sauropods. The skeleton is known in large part, missing both the hand and the majority of the skull. Gongxianosaurus was firstly named and described in a short note published in 1998; however, a comprehensive description has yet to be published. Gongxianosaurus shibeiensis was named for the place it was found, near the village Shibei in Gong County.

<i>Cedrorestes</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camarasauridae</span> Extinct family of dinosaurs

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Qingxiusaurus is a genus of titanosaur sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Dashi Site of Guangxi, China. The type species, described by Mo et al. in 2008, is Q. youjiangensis. Like other sauropods, Qingxiusaurus would have been a large quadrupedal herbivore. It is known from only limited remains collected in 1991: Two humeri, two sternal plates, and the neural spine of a single vertebra.

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The Kalaza Formation is a geological formation in Xinjiang, China whose strata date back to the Late Jurassic. There is some confusion with the stratigraphy of this unit, as the term is used for sediments of equivalent age in both the Junggar Basin and the Turpan Basin. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from formation.

The Dariv Formation is a Late Jurassic geologic formation in Govi-Altay, Mongolia. Dinosaur remains diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the mudstones and sandstones of the formation.

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Rhomaleopakhus is a genus of mamenchisaurid sauropod, dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Kalaza Formation of China. The type and only species is Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis.

References

  1. ↑ Peng, G.Z.; Ye, Y.; Gao, Y.H.; Shu, C.K.; Jiang, S. (2005). "Jurassic dinosaur faunas in Zigong". Zigong Dinosaur Museum, Zigong.
  2. ↑ Hou, L.-h.; Zhou, S.-w.; Chao, S.-c. (1976). "New discovery of sauropod dinosaurs from Sichuan". Vertebrata PalAsiatica (in Chinese). 14 (3): 160–165.
  3. ↑ Glut, Donald F. (1982). The New Dinosaur Dictionary. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press. p. 263. ISBN   0-8065-0782-9.
  4. ↑ Lambert, David; the Diagram Group (1983). A Field Guide to Dinosaurs. New York: Avon Books. p. 119. ISBN   0-380-83519-3.
  5. ↑ Norman, David. B. (1985). "Camarasaurids & Brachiosaurids". The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: An Original and Compelling Insight into Life in the Dinosaur Kingdom. New York: Crescent Books. pp. 86–91. ISBN   0-517-46890-5.
  6. ↑ Zhiming, Dong; Zhou, S.; Zhang, H. (1983). "Dinosaurs from the Jurassic of Sichuan". Palaeontologia Sinica, New Series C (in Chinese). 162 (33): 1–136.
  7. ↑ Lambert, David; the Diagram Group (1990). The Dinosaur Data Book. New York: Avon Books. p. 105. ISBN   0-380-75896-2.
  8. ↑ McIntosh, Jack S. (1990). "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 345–401. ISBN   0-520-06727-4.
  9. 1 2 Zhang, Y.; Chen, W. (1996). "Preliminary research on the classification of sauropods from Sichuan Basin, China". In Morales, M. (ed.). The Continental Jurassic. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin, 60. Museum of Northern Arizona. pp. 97–107.
  10. 1 2 Upchurch, Paul; Barrett, Paul M.; Dodson, Peter (2004). "Sauropoda". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 259–322. ISBN   0-520-24209-2.
  11. ↑ Martin-Rolland, Valérie (1999). "Les sauropodes chinois". Revue Paléobiologie, Genève (in French). 18 (1): 287–315.
  12. ↑ Lessem, D. & Glut, D.F. (1993). "Omeisaurus". The Dinosaur Society Dinosaur Encyclopedia. Random House. pp.  329–330. ISBN   0-679-41770-2.
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