Zuolong
Name: Zuolong
(Zuo dragon).
Phonetic: Zoo-o-long.
Named By: Jonah N. Choiniere, James M. Clark,
Catherine A. Forster & Xu Xing - 2010.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Theropoda, Coelurosauria.
Species: Z. salleei (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: 3.1 meters long.
Known locations: China, Xinjiang - Shishugou
Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial skeleton.
Zuolong
was a relatively small Jurassic aged theropod that has been classed
within the Coelurosauria. Due to its small size it was probably a
predator of small vertebrates such as lizard, primitive mammals to
even smaller dinosaurs. Zuolong however may have
been potential prey
for even larger theropods that are also known from the Shishugou
Formation such as Monolophosaurus
and Sinraptor.
The
genus name is in honour of General Zuo Zongtang (also known as
General Tso), who in the nineteenth century secured Xinjiang for
China. The species name is in honour of Hilmar Sallee who bequeathed
money for the expedition in their will.
Further reading
- A basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Jurassic
(Oxfordian) of the Shishugou Formation in Wucaiwan, People's Republic
of China - ournal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (6): 1773–1796. - Jonah
N. Choiniere, James M. Clark, Catherine A. Forster and Xing Xu - 2010.
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