Sinopliosaurus
Sinopliosaurus (meaning "Chinese more lizard"; in reference to Pliosaurus) is a genus of pliosauroid plesiosaur, a type of short-necked marine reptile, from the Valanginian until Albian[1] (disputed Sinopliosaurus remains have been dated to the Toarcian age and were found in the Ziliujing Formation)[2] of the People's Republic of China - its exact age is unknown. The type species, Sinopliosaurus weiyuanensis, was named and described in 1944 by Yang Zhongjian.[2] One species, "S." fusuiensis, was later shown to be based on teeth from a spinosaurid theropod dinosaur which is now known as Siamosaurus.[3] S. weiyuanensis would have lived near a coastal environment.[2]
Sinopliosaurus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
Order: | †Plesiosauria |
Family: | †Pliosauridae |
Genus: | †Sinopliosaurus Young, 1944 |
Type species | |
†Sinopliosaurus weiyuanensis Young, 1944 |
The holotype, IVPP V140, consists of three vertebrae and a tooth, discovered in a layer of the Lianmugin Formation (Tugulu Group).[2][4]
References
- C.-C. Young. 1973. [Plesiosaur remains discovered in Dsungar Basin, Sinkiang]. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Academia Sinica 11:13-17
- C.-C. Young. 1944. On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 24(3–4):187-205
- Buffetaut, E.; Suteethorn, V.; Tong, H.; Amiot, R. (2008). "An Early Cretaceous spinosaur theropod from southern China". Geological Magazine. 145 (5): 745–748. doi:10.1017/S0016756808005360.
- Z. Dong. 1973. [Cretaceous 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