Jingshanosaurus

Summary

Jingshanosaurus (meaning "Jingshan lizard") is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the early Jurassic period 201.3 million years ago that went extinct 199.3 million years ago in the Hettangian Age.

Jingshanosaurus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic 201.6–196.5 Ma
Skeleton of Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis at the Miami Science Museum.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropodiformes
Genus: Jingshanosaurus
Zhang and Yang, 1995
Type species
Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis
Zhang and Yang, 1995

Its maximum weight was around 4.3 t with an adult femur length of 845 mm.[1] Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis grew to be 5 meters (16.4 ft) long.[2]

History of discovery edit

 
Restoration

Its fossils, a nearly complete skeleton including the skull, were found near the town of Jingshan ("Golden Hill"), Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, China, from which the name derives.[3] First described in 1995, the type species is J. xinwaensis, formalized by Zhang and Yang.[4] Fossil remains of Jingshanosaurus had been exhibited in museums several years prior to the formal naming. A complete skeleton and skull of Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis have been found and is considered the last prosauropods to live on earth.[5]

Classification edit

Jingshanosaurus may have been most closely related to Yunnanosaurus, and has, at times, been included in the Yunnanosauridae. In fact, Dong Zhiming considered Jingshanosaurus possibly a large specimen of Yunnanosaurus. If true, this would make Jingshanosaurus a junior synonym of Yunnanosaurus.

References edit

  1. ^ "Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis Zhang & Yang 1994 data - Encyclopedia of Life". eol.org. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  2. ^ "Jingshanosaurus | Natural History Museum". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  3. ^ Ben Creisler, Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide.
  4. ^ Y. Zhang, and Z. Yang. (1995). A new complete osteology of Prosauropoda in Lufeng Basin, Yunnan, China. Yunnan Publishing House of Science and Technology, Kunming, China 1-100. [Chinese]
  5. ^ "Jingshanosaurus | Natural History Museum". www.nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-12-14.