Name:
Kaijiangosaurus
(Kaijiang lizard).
Phonetic: Ky-jee-ang-o-sore-us.
Named By: He - 1984.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Megalosauridae?
Species: K. lini (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains.
Known locations: China, Sichuan Province -
Lower Shaximiao Formation.
Time period: Bathonian to Callovian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Fragmentary skull,
cervical (neck) vertebrae, partial pectoral girdle and
incomplete limbs.
Kaijiangosaurus
is only known from very fragmentary remains, so it is difficult to
establish exactly where it belongs in relation with other dinosaurs.
Further remains have been attributed to the genus but are currently
undescribed, but some palaeontologists have leaned towards a
classification within the Megalosauridae (the theropod dinosaur group
typified by Megalosaurus).
Interestingly
another theropod dinosaur from the same formation called Gasosaurus
has
been speculated to be the same as Kaijiangosaurus.
If true then
Gasosaurus would be reclassified as a synonym to Kaijiangosaurus
because it was named a year later and under standard international
rules governing the naming of animals, the older name has priority.
Further reading
- The vertebrate fossils of Sichuan. - Sichuan Scientific and
Technological Publishing House, Chengdu. 40: 1-168. - He Xinlu - 1984.
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