''Luoyanggia'' (meaning "from

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

") is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

oviraptorid Oviraptoridae is a group of bird-like, herbivorous and omnivorous maniraptoran dinosaurs. Oviraptorids are characterized by their toothless, parrot-like beaks and, in some cases, elaborate crests. They were generally small, measuring between one ...

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 #Evolutio ...

known from the Early Cretaceous

Haoling Formation The Haoling Formation is a Mesozoic geologic formation in the Ruyang Basin of Henan, Province, central China. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. The Haoling Formation was originally treated as par ...

of the Ruyang Basin in

Henan Province Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luo ...

, central

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''L. liudianensis''.Lü., J., Xu, L., Jiang, X., Jia, S., Li, M., Yuan, C., Zhang, X. and Ji, Q. (2009). "A preliminary report on the new dinosaurian fauna from the Cretaceous of the Ruyang Basin, Henan Province of central China." ''Journal of the Palaeontological Society of Korea'', 25: 43-56. Holtz estimated it at 1.5 meters (5 ft) and around 2.27-9.1 kg (5-20 lbs). Molina-Pérez and Larramendi gave a similar size of 1.2 meters (4 ft) and 8.5 kg (18.7 lbs).

Paleobiology

Non-avian dinosaurs that co-existed with ''Luoyanggia'' included ''

Ruyangosaurus ''Ruyangosaurus'' (Ruyang County lizard) is a genus of macronaria, titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur recovered from the Early Cretaceous Haoling Formation of China. The type species is ''R. giganteus'', described in 2009 in paleontology, 2009 by ...

'', ''

Zhongyuansaurus ''Zhongyuansaurus'' (meaning "Zhongyuan lizard") is an extinct genus of ankylosaurid dinosaurs known from the Early Cretaceous Haoling Formation of what is now Henan Province, China. The genus contains two species, ''Z. luoyangensis'', named in ...

'', '' Yunmenglong'', ''

Xianshanosaurus ''Xianshanosaurus'' () is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) of the Ruyang Basin in Henan Province, China. Its type and only species is ''Xianshanosaurus shijiagouensis''. It was described in 2009 by a team of ...

'', and ''"

Huanghetitan ''Huanghetitan'' (meaning "Yellow River titan"), is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period. It was a basal titanosauriformes, titanosauriform which lived in what is now Gansu, China. History The type species, ''Huangh ...

" ruyangensis''. The type horizon of ''Luoyanggia'' was initially thought to date

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

stage of the late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

period, but extensive fieldwork in the Ruyang Basin and invertebrate and microfossil assemblages indicate an Aptian-Albian age for the Haoling Formation.Xu, L., Pan, Z.C., Wang, Z.H., Zhang, X.L., Jia, S.H., Lü, J.C., Jiang, B.L., 2012. Discovery and significance of the Cretaceous system in Ruyang Basin, Henan Province. Geological Review 58, 601-613.

References

Oviraptoridae Dinosaur genera Aptian dinosaurs Albian dinosaurs Taxa named by Lü Junchang Fossil taxa described in 2009 Dinosaurs of China {{theropod-stub

Paleobiology

See also

References