''Sinopliosaurus'' (meaning "Chinese more lizard") is a dubious

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 ...

pliosaur Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of plesiosaurs, known from the earliest Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. They are best known for the subclade Thalassophonea, which contained crocodile-like short-necked forms with large heads and massive toot ...

oid

plesiosaur The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an Order (biology), order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period (geology), Period, possibly in the Rhaetian st ...

. It lived during the

Aptian The Aptian is an age (geology), age in the geologic timescale or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), S ...

and

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/s ...

stages of the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

(disputed ''Sinopliosaurus'' remains have been dated to the

Toarcian The Toarcian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS' geologic timescale, an age (geology), age and stage (stratigraphy), stage in the Early Jurassic, Early or Lower Jurassic. It spans the time between 184.2 Megaannum, Ma (million ...

age and were found in the Ziliujing Formation) of the

People's Republic of 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 ...

- its exact age is unknown. The type species, ''Sinopliosaurus weiyuanensis'', was named and described in 1944 by

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. ...

.C.-C. Young. (1944). On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. ''Bulletin of the Geological Society of China'' 24(3–4):187-205 One species, "S." ''fusuiensis'', was later shown to be based on teeth from a

spinosaur Spinosauridae (or spinosaurids) is a clade or family of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs comprising ten to seventeen known genera. Spinosaurid fossils have been recovered worldwide, including Africa, Europe, South America, and Asia. Their remains have ...

theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...

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 ...

which is now known as ''

Siamosaurus ''Siamosaurus'' (meaning "Siam lizard") is a potentially nomen dubium, dubious genus of Spinosauridae, spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now known as China and Thailand during the Early Cretaceous Period (geologic time), period (Barr ...

''. ''S. weiyuanensis'' was considered as a freshwater plesiosaur. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

, IVPP V140, consists of three

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

e and a

tooth A tooth (: teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tea ...

, discovered in a layer of the Lianmugin Formation (

Tugulu Group The Tugulu Group () is a geological Group in Xinjiang, China whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the ...

).Z. Dong. (1973). retaceous stratigraphy of Wuerho district, Dsungar Basin Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. ''Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica'' 11:1-7

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7524937 Plesiosaurs of Asia Jurassic plesiosaurs Jurassic reptiles of Asia Early Cretaceous plesiosaurs Fossil taxa described in 1944 Early Cretaceous reptiles of Asia Albian genus extinctions Taxa named by Yang Zhongjian Sauropterygian genera Pliosauridae

See also

References