Dianchungosaurus
Name:
Dianchungosaurus.
Phonetic: De-an-chung-o-sor-us.
Named By: C.-C. Young - 1982.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Archosauromorpha, Crocodylomorpha, Mesoeucrocodylia.
Species: D. lufengensis
(type).
Diet: Uncertain.
Size: Unknown due to lack of remains.
Known locations: China, Yunnan Province -
Lufeng Formation.
Time period: Sinemurian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial remains.
When first described in 1982 Dianchungosaurus was thought to represent a small Jurassic dinosaur, and until the early years of the twenty-first century was listed as a heterodontosaurid dinosaur. In 2005 however a study by Barret and Xu discovered that the original description of Dianchungosaurus was actually based upon a fossil chimera, described from the remains of two different types of animal. These original fossils are now known to have come from a crocodylomorph and sauropodomorph dinosaur. Because the actual holotype fossil (IVPP V4735a) was from the crocodylomorph, Dianchungosaurus is now listed as a crocodylomorph, not a dinosaur.
Further reading
- [On a new genus of dinosaur from Lufeng, Yunnan]. Selected
Works of Yang Zhungjian. - Science Press, Beijing 38-42. -
C.-C. Young - 1982.
- Reassessment of Dianchungosaurus lufengensis
Yang, 1982, an
enigmatic reptile from the Lower Lufeng Formation (Lower Jurassic)
of Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. - Journal of
Paleontology 79 (5): 981–986. - P. M. Barret
& X. Xu - 2005.
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