Name:
Chiayusaurus
(Chiayukuan lizard).
Phonetic: Che-ah-yu-sore-us.
Named By: Birgir Bohlin - 1953.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda.
Species: C. lacustris
(type), C. asianensis?
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Impossible to know because no skeletal reamins
exist only teeth.
Known locations: China - Kalazha Formation.
South Korea - Hasandong Formation.
Time period: Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Two teeth.
Chiayusaurus is a highly dubious genus of sauropod dinosaur because the type species is based upon the description of a tooth crown. The problem with such tooth taxons is that unless in exceptionally rare cases (like with Troodon), it is next to impossible to assign further remains. Even a second species named C. asianensis from South Korea is only represented by a tooth. In the past the teeth of Chiayusaurus have been noted to be similar to Asiatosaurus and Euhelopus.
Further reading
- Fossil reptiles from Mongolia and Kansu - The Sino-Swedish
Expedition Publication 37 (6): 1–113. - Birgir Bohlin
- 1953.
- Sauropod dinosaur remains from the Gyeongsang Supergroup Korea.
- Paleontological Society of Korea, Special Publication 2:
103–114. - Yuong-Nam Lee, Seong-Young Yang & Eun-Jun
Park - 1997.
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