Chuxiongosaurus
"Chuxiong lizard"
- Length
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Period
- Early Jurassic (200–191 Mya)
- Place
- China
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Chuxiongosaurus (meaning “Chuxiong lizard”) is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic Period. Fossils of this genus have been found in the Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan Province, southern China. Identified from the holotype CMY LT9401 a nearly complete skull (including a lower jaw) with some similarities to Thecodontosaurus, it was described as the “first basal sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of China,” more basal than Anchisaurus. It was named by Lü Junchang, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Li Tianguang and Zhong Shimin in 2010, and the type species is Chuxiongosaurus lufengensis. It is a possible junior synonym of Jingshanosaurus.
What we know
- Named by Lü et al., 2010.
- Fossils found in China.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Chuxiongosaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.