Fusuisaurus

Summary

Fusuisaurus (meaning "Fusui lizard" from the name of the county where it was discovered) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. Fragmentary postcranial remains of this animal have been discovered in 2001 in the Napai Formation of Guangxi, China and consist of the left ilium, left pubis, anterior caudals, most of the dorsal ribs and distal end of the left femur. This sauropod has been described as a basal titanosauriform.

Fusuisaurus
Temporal range: 120–100 Ma Early Cretaceous
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Titanosauriformes
Genus: Fusuisaurus
Mo et al., 2006
Species:
F. zhaoi
Binomial name
Fusuisaurus zhaoi
Mo et al., 2006

The type species is F. zhaoi, named in honour of Chinese paleontologist Zhao Xijin.[1]

Size edit

In 2016 Gregory S. Paul gave a length of 22 meters (72 ft) and a weight of 35 tonnes (38.6 short tons).[2] This sauropod was very large animal, as its humerus was 183.5 cm long. Despite this, the weight of this sauropod is estimated "only" at about 35 000 kilograms.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Mo et al. 2006, p. 486.
  2. ^ Paul, Gregory S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 222.
  3. ^ Mo, Jinyou; Li, Jincheng; Ling, Yunchuan; Buffetaut, Eric; Suteethorn, Suravech; Suteethorn, Varavud; Tong, Haiyan; Cuny, Gilles; Amiot, Romain & Xu, Xing (2020). "New fossil remain of Fusuisaurus zhaoi (Sauropoda: Titanosauriformes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Guangxi, southern China" (PDF). Cretaceous Research. 109: 104379. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104379. S2CID 214396629.

Sources edit

  • Mo, Jinyou; Wang, Wei; Huang, Zhitao; Huang, Xin & Xu, Xing (2006). "A Basal Titanosauriform from the Early Cretaceous of Guangxi, China". Acta Geologica Sinica. 80 (4): 486–489. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2006.tb00267.x. S2CID 129846744.