Protognathosaurus
Name:
Protognathosaurus
(Early jaw lizard).
Phonetic: Pro-toe-nay-foe-sore-us.
Named By: George Olshevsky - 1991.
Synonyms: Protognathus oxyodon.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropoda, Euhelopodidae.
Species: P. oxyodon (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of post cranial remains.
Known locations: China, Sichuan Province -
Shaximiao Formation.
Time period: Bathonian/Callovian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Lower jaw.
When first described in 1988 by Zhang Yihun this sauropod dinosaur genus was named as Protognathus. However it was soon realised that the name Protognathus had already been used to name a genus of beetle, so the dinosaur was renamed buy George Olshevsky to become Protognathosaurus in order to make it distinct from the beetle. Protognathosaurusis today is considered to be a dubious dinosaur genus on the grounds that it is only described from a partially preserved lower jaw.
Further reading
- The Middle Jurassic Dinosaur Fauna from Dashanpu, Zigong,
Sichuan. - Vol. II. Sauropod Dinosaurs (I), Sichuan
Publishing House of Science and Technology, Chengdu, China, 89
pp. - Zhang Yihun - 1988.
- A revision of the parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869,
excluding the advanced Crocodylia. - Mesozoic Meanderings
2:1-196. - George Olshevsky - 1991.
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