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Lufeng Formation
The Lufeng Formation (formerly Lower Lufeng Series) is a Lower Jurassic sedimentary rock formation found in Yunnan, China. It has two units: the lower Dull Purplish Beds/Shawan Member are of Hettangian age, and Dark Red Beds/Zhangjia'ao Member are of Sinemurian age.Luo, Z., and X.-C. Wu. 1994. The small tetrapods of the Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan, China; pp. 251–270 in N. C. Fraser and H.-D.Sues (eds.), In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Cambridge University Press, New York It is known for its fossils of early dinosaurs. The Dull Purplish Beds have yielded the possible therizinosaur ''Eshanosaurus'', the possible theropod ''Lukousaurus'', and the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus" ''sinensis'', ''Lufengosaurus'', ''Jingshanosaurus'', and ''Yunnanosaurus''. Dinosaurs discovered in the Dark Red Beds include the theropod ''Sinosaurus triassicus'', the "prosauropods" "Gyposaurus", ''Lufengosaurus'', and ''Yunnanosaurus'', indeterminate remains of sauropods, and the early armored dino ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hettangian
The Hettangian is the earliest age and lowest stage of the Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ... Geological time scale, Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 201.3 ± 0.2 annum, Ma and 199.3 ± 0.3 Ma (million years ago). The Hettangian follows the Rhaetian (part of the Triassic Period) and is followed by the Sinemurian. In European stratigraphy the Hettangian is a part of the time span in which the Lias Group, Lias was deposited. An example is the British Blue Lias, which has an upper Rhaetian to Sinemurian age. Another example is the lower Lias from the Northern Limestone Alps where well-preserved but very rare ammonites, including Alsatites, have been found. Stratigraphic definitions The Hettangian was introduced in the literature by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya; their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,700 living species, are among ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bienosaurus
''Bienosaurus'' (meaning "Bien's lizard") is a genus of thyreophoran dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic (probably Sinemurian) Lower Lufeng Formation in Yunnan Province in China. Discovery and species In 1938, Bian Meinian, known in the West as Mei Nien Bien, discovered a fragmentary dinosaur skull. In 2001, Dong Zhiming named and described the specimen as the type species ''Bienosaurus lufengensis''. The generic name honours Bian. The specific name refers to the Lufeng formation. ''Bienosaurus'' is based on holotype IVPP V15311 (in 2001 incorrectly given the inventory number IVPP V 9612). It consists of a partial right lower jaw with teeth and several cranial fragments. Phylogeny Dong in 2001 placed ''Bienosaurus'' in the Scelidosauridae, considering these to be part of the Ankylosauria. Later publications suggested a general position basal in the Thyreophora. In 2019 a study confirmed this, concluding ''Bienosaurus'' was a ''nomen dubium'', possibly identical to ''Tatisaur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thyreophora
Thyreophora ("shield bearers", often known simply as "armored dinosaurs") is a group of armored ornithischian dinosaurs that lived from the Early Jurassic until the end of the Cretaceous. Thyreophorans are characterized by the presence of body armor lined up in longitudinal rows along the body. Primitive forms had simple, low, keeled scutes or osteoderms, whereas more derived forms developed more elaborate structures including spikes and plates. Most thyreophorans were herbivorous and had relatively small brains for their body size. Thyreophora includes various subgroups, including the suborders Ankylosauria and Stegosauria. In both the suborders, the forelimbs were much shorter than the hindlimbs, particularly in stegosaurs. The clade has been defined as the group consisting of all species more closely related to ''Ankylosaurus'' than to ''Triceratops''. Thyreophora is the sister group of Cerapoda within Genasauria. Groups of thyreophorans Basal thyreophorans Basal thyreop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropod
Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their body), and four thick, pillar-like legs. They are notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes the largest animals to have ever lived on land. Well-known genera include ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Apatosaurus'' and ''Brontosaurus''. The oldest known unequivocal sauropod dinosaurs are known from the Early Jurassic. ''Isanosaurus'' and ''Antetonitrus'' were originally described as Triassic sauropods, but their age, and in the case of ''Antetonitrus'' also its sauropod status, were subsequently questioned. Sauropod-like sauropodomorph tracks from the Fleming Fjord Formation (Greenland) might, however, indicate the occurrence of the group in the Late Triassic. By the Late Jurassic (150 million yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinosaurus
''Sinosaurus'' (meaning "Chinese lizard") is an extinct genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic Period. It was a bipedal carnivore approximately in length and in body mass. Fossils of the animal were found at the Lufeng Formation, in the Yunnan Province of China. Discovery and naming The composite term ''Sinosaurus'' comes from ''Sinae'', the Latin word for the Chinese, and the Greek word ' () meaning "lizard"; thus "Chinese lizard". The specific name, ''triassicus'', refers to the Triassic, the period that the fossils were originally thought to date from. ''Sinosaurus'' was described and named by Chung Chien Young, who is known as the 'Father of Chinese Vertebrate Paleontology', in 1940. The holotype, IVPP V34, was found in the Lower Lufeng Formation, and consists of two maxillary (upper jaw) fragments, four maxillary teeth, and a lower jaw fragment with three teeth. The teeth are laterally compressed, and feature fine serrations both at their ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yunnanosaurus
''Yunnanosaurus'' ( ) is an extinct genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived approximately 199 to 183 million years ago in what is now the Yunnan Province, in China, for which it was named. ''Yunnanosaurus'' was a large sized, moderately-built, ground-dwelling, quadrupedal herbivore, that could also walk bipedally, and ranged in size from 7 meters (23 feet) long and 2 m (6.5 ft) high to 4 m (13 ft) high in the largest species. Discovery Yang Zhongjian (also known as C. C. Young) discovered the first ''Yunnanosaurus'' skeletons in the upper Zhangjiawa Member of the Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China, dating to the Sinemurian stage of the Early Jurassic. The fossil find was composed of over twenty incomplete skeletons, including two skulls, it was excavated by Tsun Yi Wang. These remains were the basis for the species ''Y. huangi'' (the type species) and ''Y. robustus.'' In 2007, Lü Junchang and colleagues described another species of ''Yunnano ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jingshanosaurus
''Jingshanosaurus'' (meaning "Jingshan lizard") is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the early Jurassic period 201.3 million years ago that went extinct 199.3 million years ago in the Hettangian Age. Its maximum weight was around 4.3 t with an adult femur length of 845 mm. ''Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis'' grew to be 5 meters (16.4 ft) long. History of discovery Its fossils, a nearly complete skeleton including the skull, were found near the town of Jingshan ("Golden Hill"), Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, China, from which the name derives. First described in 1995, the type species is ''J. xinwaensis'', formalized by Zhang and Yang.Y. Zhang, and Z. Yang. (1995). ''A new complete osteology of Prosauropoda in Lufeng Basin, Yunnan, China''. Yunnan Publishing House of Science and Technology, Kunming, China 1-100. hinese/ref> Fossil remains of ''Jingshanosaurus'' had been exhibited in museums several years prior to the formal naming. A complete skeleton and skull of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lufengosaurus
''Lufengosaurus'' (, meaning "Lufeng lizard") is a genus of Massospondylidae, massospondylid dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic period in what is now southwestern China. Discovery, taxonomy and research During the late 1930s geologist Bien Meinian began to uncover fossils at Shawan, Yunnan, Shawan near Lufeng County, Lufeng in Yunnan province. In 1938 he was joined by paleontologist Yang Zhongjian, at the time better known as "C.C. Young" in the West. In 1940, Yang named remains of a "prosauropod" ''Lufengosaurus huenei''. The generic name refers to Lufeng. The specific name (zoology), specific name honours Yang's old tutor, the German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene. The holotype, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, IVPP V15, a partial skeleton, was found in the Lower Lufeng Formation. Originally considered Triassic, this formation is now seen as dating to the Lower Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian). A second species was named by Yan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gyposaurus
''Gyposaurus'' (meaning " vulture lizard", referring to the outdated hypothesis that prosauropods were carnivores) is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the early Jurassic of South Africa. It is usually considered to represent juveniles of other prosauropods, but ''"G." sinensis'' is regarded as a possibly valid species. Taxonomy ''G. capensis'' was named in 1911 by Scottish physician and paleontologist Robert Broom from a partial skeleton consisting of eleven dorsal and six caudal vertebrae, ribs, gastralia, partial right scapula, right pelvic girdle, left ilium, and most of the right leg, discovered in the Upper Elliot Formation of Orange Free State, South Africa. Originally, he thought the specimen belonged to the dubious genus '' Hortalotarsus''. Galton and Cluver placed it in the genus '' Anchisaurus'' in 1976, but Michael Cooper synonymized it with '' Massospondylus'' in 1981, which has been generally accepted. ''"G." sinensis'' was nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prosauropod
Sauropodomorpha ( ; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The ''prosauropods,'' which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the Late Triassic (approximately 230 Ma) until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. Description Sauropodomorphs were adapted to browsing higher than any other contemporary herbivore, giving them access to high tree foliage. This feeding strategy is supported by many of their defining characteristics, such as: a light, tiny skull on the end of a long neck (with ten or more elongated cervical vertebrae) a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lukousaurus
''Lukousaurus'' is an archosauromorph based on most of a small skull's snout, displaying distinctive lachrymal horns, found in the Early Jurassic-age Lower Lufeng Formation, Yunnan, China and was described by Chung Chien Young in 1940. The generic name refers to the Lugou Bridge, lit. “crossroads”, near Beijing, where the Sino-Japanese War started.C.-C. Young. (1940). Preliminary notes on the Lufeng vertebrate fossils. ''Bulletin of the Geological Society of China'' 20(3-4):235-239 ''L. yini'' is tentatively classified as a theropod dinosaur by some allied to ceratosaurs, by others a coelurosaur. Its skull is rather robust for its size though the teeth were described by the author as typically theropodan. Whatever ''Lukousaurus'' was, it was definitely an archosauromorph.Knoll F., Rohrberg K. (2012). CT scanning, rapid prototyping and re-examination of a partial skull of a basal crocodylomorph from the Late Triassic of Germany. ''Swiss Journal of Geosciences'' 105: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
