Lufengosaurus

''Lufengosaurus'' (, meaning "Lufeng lizard") is a genus of massospondylid dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic period in what is now southwestern China.

Discovery, taxonomy and research

During the late 1930s geologist Bien Meinian began to uncover fossils at Shawan near Lufeng in Yunnan province. In 1938 he was joined by paleontologist Yang Zhongjian, at the time better known as "C.C. Young" in the West. In 1940, Yang named remains of a " prosauropod" ''Lufengosaurus huenei''. The generic name refers to Lufeng. The specific name honours Yang's old tutor, the German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene.

The holotype, IVPP V15, a partial skeleton, was found in the Lower Lufeng Formation. Originally considered Triassic, this formation is now seen as dating to the Lower Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian). A second species was named by Yang in 1940/1941 and fully described in 1947: ''Lufengosaurus magnus'' was, as its specific name suggests ("the large one" in Latin), a significantly (up to a third in length) larger creature than ''L. huenei''. However, in the West this is often considered a junior synonym of ''Lufengosaurus huenei'', representing large individuals. About thirty major specimens have been discovered, including those of juveniles. In 1958 an exemplar of ''Lufengosaurus'' was the first complete dinosaur skeleton mounted in China; a commemorative postage stamp of 8 yuan was issued on 15 April 1958 to celebrate the event, the first time ever a dinosaur was depicted on a stamp."Lufengosaurus." In: Dodson, Peter & Britt, Brooks & Carpenter, Kenneth & Forster, Catherine A. & Gillette, David D. & Norell, Mark A. & Olshevsky, George & Parrish, J. Michael & Weishampel, David B. ''The Age of Dinosaurs''. Publications International, LTD. p. 38. . The skeleton is now on display in the Paleozoological Museum of China.

In 1940 Yang named another prosauropod: ''Gyposaurus sinensis''. In 1976 Peter Galton considered this species to be identical to ''Lufengosaurus''. As it is found in Bajocian stage deposits of China, this would make ''Lufengosaurus'' one of the few "prosauropod" genera to survive into the Middle Jurassic. However, the identity is today generally doubted.Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., Osmólska, H. (eds.) (2004). ''The Dinosauria, Second Edition''. University of California Press., 861 pp.

In 1981, Michael Cooper suggested that ''Lufengosaurus'' and '' Yunnanosaurus'' were species of the South African genus ''Massospondylus''. However, a reanalysis in 2005 by Paul Barrett and colleagues of the skull of ''Lufengosaurus huenei'' establishes it as a distinct genus separate from either ''Massospondylus'' or ''Yunnanosaurus''.

In 1985 Zhao Xijin in a species list named another species: ''Lufengosaurus changduensis'', based on a specimen found in Tibet. This has remained an undescribed ''nomen nudum''.

In 2015, preserved collagen protein was found in a ''Lufengosaurus'' fossil by an international team led by Yao-Chang Lee of Taiwan's National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center. The protein, described in ''Nature Communications'' (2017 January 31), was over 100 million years older than any previously recorded fossil protein.

Description

''Lufengosaurus'' is often described as a rather small early sauropodomorph, about long. However, when the ''L. magnus'' specimens are included, its size is more considerable: Gregory S. Paul estimated a length of and a weight of in 2010, while Benson ''et al''. (2014) estimated a mass of . For an early sauropodomorph, its neck is rather long and the forelimbs are relatively short. From these it was inferred that the species was bipedal, even before it became common to assume this for all basal sauropodomorphs. Yang published a full osteology of ''Lufengosaurus'' in 1941, but was severely hampered in his diagnosis by the war conditions, preventing a full access to literature and making an adequate comparison with related forms impossible. Of the skull a modern description exists. The skull of the holotype is long.

Skull

''Lufengosaurus'' snout was deep and broad, and it had distinctive bony bumps just behind its large nostrils and on its cheeks. A bony ridge on the side of its upper jaw might have helped anchor soft tissue. If so, then ''Lufengosaurus'' must have had larger cheeks than most other sauropodomorphs. Its closely spaced, serrated teeth suited a diet of leaves.

Classification

Yang assigned ''Lufengosaurus'' to the Plateosauridae and this is still a common classification in China. Some cladistic analyses have found ''Lufengosaurus'' as a member of the Massospondylidae. ''Lufengosaurus'' was often thought to be very similar to ''Plateosaurus'' from Europe. However, new work has proven that the pair are quite different, and ''Lufengosaurus'' was closer to '' Coloradisaurus'' and ''Massospondylus''.

Palaeobiology

Like all early sauropodomorphs, ''Lufengosaurus'' had much longer hindlimbs than forelimbs and was probably bipedal. It was herbivorous, although it had sharp claws (with an especially large thumb claw) and teeth. These features have been used to support claims, the most recent by Cooper in 1981, that ''Lufengosaurus'' may have been at least partially omnivorous, but the sharp teeth witnessed in ''Lufengosaurus'' and other early sauropodomorphs are similar to those seen in iguanaian lizards – which are herbivorous.Barrett, P.M. (2000). Chapter 3: Prosauropod dinosaurs and iguanas: speculations on the diets of extinct reptiles. IN: ''Evolution of Herbivory in Terrestrial Vertebrates'' Alternatively, the claws may have been used for defense or raking foliage from trees. Embryos of this genus also represent the earliest evidence of vertebrate soft tissue preservation.

References

Sources

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External links

Lufengosaurus on stamp



Paleontologiara Discover Nearly Complete Dinosaur Skeleton

{{Taxonbar, from=Q131561

Massospondylidae
Early Jurassic dinosaurs of Asia
Fossil taxa described in 1941
Taxa named by Yang Zhongjian
Paleontology in Yunnan