Xiaosaurus
|
Xiaosaurus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic |
|
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Neornithischia |
| Genus: |
†Xiaosaurus Dong & Tang, 1983 |
| Species: | †X. dashanpensis |
| Binomial name | |
|
Xiaosaurus dashanpensis Dong & Tang, 1983 |
|
Xiaosaurus ("dawn lizard", /ʃaʊˈsɔːrəs/), is a genus of small herbivorous dinosaur from the middle Jurassic, approximately 169 to 163 mya. Xiaosaurus lived in what is now the Sichuan Basin of China.
In 1979 and 1980, two specimens were discovered of a small herbivorous dinosaur during excavations near Dashanpu in Sichuan. In 1983 Dong Zhiming and Tang Zilu named the fossils under the type species Xiaosaurus dashanpensis. The generic name is derived from Chinese xiáo, 曉, "dawn", a reference to the age of the fossil. The specific name refers to Danshanpu.
The holotype, IVPP V6730A, was found in the lower Xiashaximiao Formation of which the age is uncertain: both the Bajocian and the Bathonian–Callovian have been proposed. It consists of a partial skeleton including a jaw fragment with a single tooth, two cervical vertebrae, four caudal vertebrae, a humerus, a partial left femur and a complete right hindlimb. The paratype IVPP V6730B is a second partial skeleton including a right femur, a dorsal vertebra, two sacral vertebrae, a phalanx, a rib and two teeth.
...
Wikipedia