Yizhousaurus

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Yizhousaurus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic, Sinemurian
Yizhousaurus sunae skull and jaw.png
Skull and jaw of the holotype
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropodiformes
Genus: Yizhousaurus
Zhang et al., 2018
Type species
Yizhousaurus sunae
Zhang et al., 2018

Yizhousaurus (meaning "Yizhou lizard", after the Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Region [1] ) is a genus of basal sauropodiform dinosaurs which existed in what is now Lufeng Formation, Yunnan Province of southern China during the lower Jurassic period. [2] Identified from a nearly complete and exquisitely preserved skeleton, it is the most complete basal sauropod currently known with intact skull. [2] Although its name was revealed in a 2010 Geological Society of America abstract by Sankar Chatterjee, T. Wang, S.G. Pan, Z. Dong, X.C. Wu, and Paul Upchurch, [2] it wasn't validly named and described until 2018. The type species is Yizhousaurus sunae. [1]

Discovery and naming

Size comparison Yizhousaurus Scale.svg
Size comparison

The holotype was discovered in 2002 and was excavated between October 20 through November 23. It consists of a near-complete skull and lower jaw, 31 vertebrae (nine cervical, fourteen dorsal, three sacral and five caudal), shoulder and pelvic girdles, most of both forelimbs and both thighs. The holotype was informally mentioned in a 2010 Geological Society of America abstract by Sankar Chatterjee, T. Wang, S.G. Pan, Z. Dong, X.C. Wu, and Paul Upchurch. [2] It was eventually named and described in 2018. [1]

Related Research Articles

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Chuxiongosaurus is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic Period. Fossils of this genus have been found in the Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan Province, southern China. Identified from the holotype CMY LT9401 a nearly complete skull with some similarities to Thecodontosaurus, it was described as the "first basal sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of China," more basal than Anchisaurus. It was named by Lü Junchang, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Li Tianguang and Zhong Shimin in 2010, and the type species is Chuxiongosaurus lufengensis. It is a possible junior synonym of Jingshanosaurus.

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Xingxiulong is a genus of bipedal sauropodiform from the Early Jurassic of China. It contains a single species, X. chengi, described by Wang et al. in 2017 from three specimens, two adults and an immature individual, that collectively constitute a mostly complete skeleton. Adults of the genus measured 4–5 metres (13–16 ft) long and 1–1.5 metres tall. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Xingxiulong is most closely related to its contemporary Jingshanosaurus, although an alternative position outside of both the Sauropodiformes and Massospondylidae is also plausible.

Shuangbaisaurus is genus of theropod dinosaur, possibly a junior synonym of Sinosaurus. It lived in the Early Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China, and is represented by a single species, S. anlongbaoensis, known from a partial skull. Like the theropods Dilophosaurus and Sinosaurus,Shuangbaisaurus bore a pair of thin, midline crests on its skull. Unusually, these crests extended backwards over the level of the eyes, which, along with the unusual orientation of the jugal bone, led the describers to name it as a new genus. However, Shuangbaisaurus also possesses a groove between its premaxilla and maxilla, a characteristic which has been used to characterize Sinosaurus as a genus. Among the two morphotypes present within the genus Sinosaurus, Shuangbaisaurus more closely resembles the morphotype that is variably treated as a distinct species, S. sinensis, in its relatively tall skull.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Zhang, Qian-Nan; You, Hai-Lu; Wang, Tao; Chatterjee, Sankar (2018). "A new sauropodiform dinosaur with a 'sauropodan' skull from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of Yunnan Province, China". Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 13464. Bibcode:2018NatSR...813464Z. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31874-9. PMC   6128897 . PMID   30194381.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Chatterjee, S.; Wang, T.; Pan, S.G.; Dong, Z.; Wu, X.C.; Upchurch, P. (2010). "A complete skeleton of a basal Sauropod Dinosaur from the early Jurassic of China and the origin of Sauropoda". Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. 42 (5): 26.