Chuandongocoelurus

Chuandongocoelurus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, 165 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Skeletal restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Genus:	†Chuandongocoelurus He, 1984
Species:	†C. primitivus
Binomial name
Chuandongocoelurus primitivus He, 1984

Chuandongocoelurus (/tʃwɑːnˌdɒŋoʊsᵻˈlʊərəs/ chwahn-DONG-ə-si-LOOR-əs) is a genus of carnivorous tetanuran theropod dinosaur from the Jurassic of China.

The type species Chuandongocoelurus primitivus was first described and named by Chinese paleontologist He Xinlu in 1984. The generic name combines references to the Chuandong in Sichuan Province and the theropod genus Coelurus, itself named after the Greek κοῖλος, koilos, meaning "hollow" and οὐρά, oura, meaning "tail". The specific name means "the primitive one" in Latin, a reference to the great age of the find.

Chuandongocoelurus was initially based on two partial skeletons. The holotype, a thighbone, is part of specimen CCG 20010. Vertebrae, pelvic bones and hindlimb elements, also catalogued under this inventory number, may belong to the same individual. The specimen has unfused neurocentral sutures in its vertebrae, meaning that the animal was immature at the time of death. The formation in which it was discovered was the Lower Shaximiao Formation, part of the Dashanpu Formation, meaning Chuandongocoelurus dates to the Bathonian or Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic. A second specimen is CCG 20011, a set of neck vertebrae from a different and much larger individual. In 2012, it was concluded that both specimens represent different taxa, probably not even closely related.