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Mamenchisaurids
Mamenchisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs belonging to the Eusauropoda known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia and Africa. Mamenchisaurids are characterized by their proportionately extremely long necks. Some members of the group reached gigantic sizes, amongst the largest of all sauropods. Classification The family Mamenchisauridae was first erected by Chinese paleontologists Yang Zhongjian ("C.C. Young") and Zhao Xijin in 1972, in a paper describing ''Mamenchisaurus, Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis''.Young, C.C. and Zhao, X. (1972). "''Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis sp. nov.''". ''Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology Monographs'' Series A 8: 1-30. A comprehensive analysis of Mamenchisauridae was presented by Moore et al., 2020, including several named species. Notably, some iterations of their analyses recovered ''Euhelopus'' and kin, usually considered somphospondylians, as relatives of mamenchisaurids, mirroring earlier conceptions about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albian
The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series. Its approximate time range is 113.0 ± 1.0 annum, Ma to 100.5 ± 0.9 Ma (million years ago). The Albian is preceded by the Aptian and followed by the Cenomanian. Stratigraphic definitions The Albian Stage was first proposed in 1842 by Alcide d'Orbigny. It was named after Alba, the Latin name for Aube (river), River Aube in France. A Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), ratified by the IUGS in 2016, defines the base of the Albian as the first occurrence of the planktonic foraminiferan ''Hedbergellidae, Microhedbergella renilaevis'' at the Col de Pré-Guittard section, Arnayon, Drôme, France. The top of the Albian Stage (the base of the Cenomanian Stage and Upper Cretaceous Series) is defined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhoetosaurus
''Rhoetosaurus'' (meaning "Rhoetos lizard"), named after Rhoetus, a titan in Greek mythology, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic ( Oxfordian) Walloon Coal Measures of what is now eastern Australia. ''Rhoetosaurus'' is estimated to have been about long, weighing about .Paul, G.S., 2010, ''The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs'', Princeton University Press p. 173 Subsequent authors have sometimes misspelled the name: ''Rhaetosaurus'' (de Lapparent & Laverat, 1955); ''Rheteosaurus'' (Yadagiri, Prasad & Satsangi, 1979). Discovery and species In 1924, Heber Longman, self-trained paleontologist at (and later director of) the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, learned of a large fossil reptile skeleton exposed in the Walloon Coal Measures at Durham Downs near Roma in southern inland Queensland. The station manager, Arthur Browne, forwarded fragments of bone to Longman, and was honoured with the dinosaur's specific name ''brownei''. The initial collection was of 22 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhao Xijin
Zhao Xijin (赵喜进; born c. 1935 died July 21, 2012) was a Chinese paleontologist notable for having named numerous dinosaurs. He was a professor at Beijing's Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. Biography Zhao Xijin was born ''c.''1935 in China. Career Paul Sereno and Zhao went on a dinosaur fossil hunt in 2005 to Tibet to look for a site that Zhao had found 27 years prior. Before this hunt, in 2001, they had been engaged in a dig in the Gobi Desert. This involved a rock quarry that led them to finding 25 skeletons of the species '' Sinornithomimus dongi''. In 2008, Zhao was involved in and in charge of a dig in Zhucheng that consisted of digging out a "980 ft-long pit". The site has unearthed more than 7,600 fossils through Xijin's work. It is believed to be the largest such site in the world. The majority of the fossils found appeared to be from the Late Cretaceous period. He died in 2012 at the age of 77. List of dinosaurs named *'' Chaoyangsaurus'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yang Zhongjian
Yang Zhongjian, also Yang Chung-chien (; 1 June 1897 – 15 January 1979), courtesy name Keqiang (), also known as C.C. (Chung Chien) Young, was a Chinese paleontologist and zoologist. He was one of China's foremost vertebrate paleontologists. He has been called the "Father of Chinese Vertebrate Paleontology". Biography Yang was born in Hua County, Shaanxi, China. He graduated from the Department of Geology of Peking University in 1923, and in 1927 received his doctorate from the University of Munich in Germany. In 1928 he worked for the Cenozoic Research Laboratory of the Geological Survey of China and took charge of excavations at the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian. He held professorial posts at the Geological Survey of China, Peking University, and Northwest University in Xi'an. Yang's scientific work was instrumental in the creation of China's Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, which today houses one of the most important collection ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eusauropoda
Eusauropoda (meaning "True Lizard Foot") is a derived clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Eusauropods represent the node-based group that includes all descendant sauropods starting with the basal eusauropods of '' Shunosaurus'', and possibly '' Barapasaurus'', and '' Amygdalodon'', but excluding ''Vulcanodon'' and '' Rhoetosaurus''. The Eusauropoda was coined in 1995 by Paul Upchurch to create a monophyletic new taxonomic group that would include all sauropods, except for the vulcanodontids. Eusauropoda are herbivorous, quadrupedal, and have long necks. They have been found in South America, Europe, North America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. The temporal range of Eusauropoda ranges from the early Jurassic to the Latest Cretaceous periods. The most basal forms of eusauropods are not well known and because the cranial material for the ''Vulcanodon'' is not available, and the distribution of some of these shared derived traits that distinguish Eusauropoda is still completely clear. Howeve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutionary history, evolution of dinosaurs is a subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, Evolution of birds, having evolved from earlier Theropoda, theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomy (biology), taxonomic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropod
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include '' Apatosaurus'', '' Argentinosaurus'', '' Alamosaurus'', ''Brachiosaurus'', '' Camarasaurus'', '' Diplodocus,'' and '' Mamenchisaurus''. The oldest known unequivocal sauropod dinosaurs are known from the Early Jurassic. '' Isanosaurus'' and '' Antetonitrus'' were originally described as Triassic sauropods, but their age, and in the case of ''Antetonitrus'' also its sauropod status, were subsequently questioned. Sauropod-like sauropodomorph tracks from the Fleming Fjord Formation (Greenland) might, however, indicate the occurrence of the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zigongosaurus
''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. History and taxonomy The genus was based on CV 02501, 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. Early accounts in the popular press suggested it was a brachiosaurid. Chinese sauropod taxonomy became increasingly convoluted in the 1980s. In 1983, Dong, Zhou, and Zhang named a species ''Omeisaurus fuxiensis'', which they based on diffe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yuanmousaurus
''Yuanmousaurus'' ("Yuanmou lizard") was a sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic period of China. It is known from incomplete remains, recovered in 2000 from the Zhanghe Formation in Yuanmou County in Yunnan Province. ''Yuanmousaurus'' was a relatively large sauropod and may have reached about 17 meters (56 ft) in length. It was a basal member of the Sauropoda, but its exact systematic position is unclear. A recent study placed ''Yuanmousaurus'' within the family Mamenchisauridae. It may be a dubious genus. The only and type species was ''Yuanmousaurus jiangyiensis''. Description ''Yuanmousaurus'' was estimated to be approximately 17 meters (56 ft) in length. The skull is missing, while the neck is known only from a fragment of a posterior cervical vertebra. This fragment indicates elongated neck vertebrae, similar to those of mamenchisaurid sauropods, but unlike the much shorter neck vertebrae of the more basal ''Shunosaurus''. From the trunk and tail, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xinjiangtitan
''Xinjiangtitan'' ( zh, s=新疆巨龙, p=Xīnjiāngjùlóng) is an extinct genus of mamenchisaurid sauropod that lived during the Middle Jurassic of what is now Xinjiang, northwestern China. Its type and only species is ''Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis'' ( zh, s=鄯善新疆巨龙, p=Shànshàn Xīnjiāngjùlóng), known from a single incomplete skeleton recovered from the Qiketai Formation. The holotype preserves one of the most complete vertebral columns of any sauropod found in Asia, and has the longest complete neck known for any animal. Discovery The type specimen of ''Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis'' was discovered by a joint expedition of Jilin University, Shenyang Normal University, and Xinjiang Geological Survey Institutute in 2012, from a quarry south of Qiketai, Xinjiang. In 2013, before the specimen had been fully excavated, Wu Wen-hao, Zhou Chang-fu, Oliver Wings, Toru Sekiha and Dong Zhiming described it as a new genus and species, ''Xinjiangtitan shanshanesis''. The g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wamweracaudia
''Wamweracaudia'' is a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania, Africa, 155-145 million years ago. Discovery and naming During the German expeditions to the Tendaguru in German East Africa between 1909 and 1912, paleontologist Werner Janensch supervised the excavation of a sauropod tail at "Site G". In 1929, he referred this tail to ''Gigantosaurus robustus''.Janensch, W. 1929. "Material und Formengehalt in der Ausbeute der Tendaguru-Expedition", ''Palaeontographica'', Supplement 7, 1. Reihe, Teil 2: 1-34 In 1991, ''G. robustus'' was made the separate genus ''Janenschia''.Wild, R. 1991. "''Janenschia'' n. g. ''robusta'' (E. Fraas 1908) pro ''Tornieria robusta'' (E. Fraas 1908) (Reptilia, Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha). ''Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie)'' 173: 1–4 Janensch had referred the tail based on personal observation of a series of finds of comparable material. During the Second W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonganosaurus
''Tonganosaurus'' (named for the town of Tong'an, Sichuan where it was found) is a genus of mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaur, similar to ''Omeisaurus''. It is known from one specimen consisting of twenty vertebrae, a front limb and pectoral girdle, and a complete hind limb with partial hip. It was discovered in the Yimen Formation, China. The horizon of the specimen and the age of the Yimen Formation is controversial. The formation has been divided into three levels, and ''Tonganosaurus'' appears to be of late Early Jurassic (Pliensbachian) age. ''Tonganosaurus'' is the oldest known member of the mamenchisaurids, being almost 15 million years older than the next-oldest members of the group. It was first named by Li Kui, Yang Chun-Yan, Liu Jian and Wang Zheng-Xin in 2010 and the type species is ''Tonganosaurus hei''. Description The ratio of the front and rear limbs is 0.80. The tibia was straight and thick, with a length 75% that of the femur. The holotype is an incomplete sk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
