Xianshanosaurus

Xianshanosaurus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Aptian–Albian
Xianshanosaurus skeleton.jpg
Reconstructed skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Gravisauria
Clade: Eusauropoda
Genus: Xianshanosaurus
et al., 2009
Type species
Xianshanosaurus shijiagouensis
et al., 2009

Xianshanosaurus (Chinese: 岘山龙; pinyin: xiànshānlóng) 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 paleontologists led by Lü Junchang. Xianshanosaurus may be a titanosaur, and Daxiatitan may be its closest relative, but its evolutionary relationships remain controversial.

Taxonomy

Xianshanosaurus and its type species X. shijiagouensis were named by Lü Junchang, Xu Li, Jiang Xiaojun, Jia Songhai, Li Ming, Yuan Chongxi, Zhang Xingliao, and Ji Qiang in 2009. The type specimen, accessioned in the Henan Geological Museum, consists of ten caudal vertebrae, a coracoid, a femur, and several ribs. The genus name refers to Xian Mountain (Chinese: 岘山; pinyin: xiànshān), located near where the holotype was found.

Phylogenetic relationships

When Xianshanosaurus was first described, its discoverers noted that it had an unusual mixture of characteristics of titanosaurs and non-titanosaurian sauropods, and classified it as an indeterminate neosauropod. In 2011, Philip Mannion and Jorge Calvo tentatively considered it a titanosaur, and in 2012, Michael D'Emic interpreted it as a lithostrotian titanosaur.

Studies that have included Xianshanosaurus in phylogenetic analyses have regarded it as an unstable taxon. In several studies, it has been recovered as a titanosaur either close to or within Lithostrotia, with Daxiatitan sometimes recovered as its sister taxon. In contrast, Andrew Moore and colleagues found it to be highly unstable, potentially belonging to Titanosauria, Turiasauria, or Euhelopodidae. In the third case, in which Euhelopodidae was recovered as a non-neosauropod clade equivalent to Mamenchisauridae, Moore et al. recovered Daxiatitan as the sister taxon of Xianshanosaurus.

Habitat

Xianshanosaurus shared its habitat with Ruyangosaurus, "Huanghetitan" ruyangensis, Yunmenglong, Luoyanggia, and Zhongyuansaurus. The Haoling Formation was initially thought to be Cenomanian in age, but is now considered Aptian-Albian.



This page was last updated at 2022-09-07 01:49 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari