''Shunosaurus'', meaning "shu lizard", is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
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 bo ...
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 t ...
from
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
(
Oxfordian) beds in
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
Province in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, approximately 159±2 million years ago. The name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for the Sichuan province.
Discovery and species
![Museum of Natural History Helsinki](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Museum_of_Natural_History_Helsinki.jpg)
The first fossil of ''Shunosaurus'' was discovered in 1977 by a group of students, practising paleontological excavation at a road bank. The
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
, ''Shunosaurus lii'', was described and named by
Dong Zhiming
Dong Zhiming (Chinese: 董枝明, Pinyin: ''Dǒng Zhimíng''; born January 1937) is a Chinese vertebrate paleontologist formerly employed at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing. He began working at the ...
,
Zhou Shiwu Zhou may refer to:
Chinese history
* King Zhou of Shang () (1105 BC–1046 BC), the last king of the Shang dynasty
* Predynastic Zhou (), 11th-century BC precursor to the Zhou dynasty
* Zhou dynasty () (1046 BC–256 BC), a dynasty of China
** West ...
and
Zhang Yihong in 1983. The generic name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for Sichuan. The
specific name honours
hydrologist
Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...
Li Bing, the governor of Sichuan in the third century BC.
The
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
, IVPP V.9065, was collected from the Lower
Xiashaximiao Formation
The Shaximiao Formation () is a Middle to Late Jurassic aged geological formation in Sichuan, China, most notable for the wealth of dinosaurs fossils that have been excavated from its strata. The Shaximiao Formation is exposed in and around th ...
near
Dashanpu
The Shaximiao Formation () is a Middle to Late Jurassic aged geological formation in Sichuan, China, most notable for the wealth of dinosaurs fossils that have been excavated from its strata. The Shaximiao Formation is exposed in and around th ...
,
Zigong
Zigong (, ), formed by the merger of the two former towns of Ziliujing (Tzuliuching, literally "self-flow well") and Gongjing (Kungching, literally "offering well"), is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan, southwestern China.
Demographics
Accord ...
. It consists of a partial skeleton. Later about twenty more major specimens were discovered, including several complete or near-complete skeletons, skulls and juveniles, making ''Shunosaurus'' one of the best anatomically known sauropods, with 94% of all skeletal elements identified. ''Shunosaurus'' skeletons are on display at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum in
Zigong
Zigong (, ), formed by the merger of the two former towns of Ziliujing (Tzuliuching, literally "self-flow well") and Gongjing (Kungching, literally "offering well"), is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan, southwestern China.
Demographics
Accord ...
,
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
Province, and the
Tianjin Natural History Museum
Tianjin Natural History Natural history museum, Museum is in Tianjin, China, and is located in No. 206 Machang Avenue, in the Hexi District, Tianjin, Hexi District. It was founded in 1914 as the Hoangho Paiho Museum. The museum has three floors an ...
.
A proposed second species, ''S. ziliujingensis'', a name mentioned in the Zigong museum guide to indicate a smaller and older form, has never been formally described, and thus remains a ''
nomen nudum
In taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate descr ...
''.
In 2004 a partial semi-articulated specimen from Jiangyi Township in Yuanmou County was described as the new species ''Shunosaurus jiangyiensis''. It is known from nine cervicals, 15 dorsals, three sacrals, four caudals, both scapulae, the right coracoid and clavicle, the right forelimb lacking the hand, a pubis and ischium and the right hindlimb, found in the upper section of the Middle Jurassic
Xiashaximiao Formation
The Shaximiao Formation () is a Middle to Late Jurassic aged geological formation in Sichuan, China, most notable for the wealth of dinosaurs fossils that have been excavated from its strata. The Shaximiao Formation is exposed in and around th ...
. The species was separated from ''Shunosaurus lii'' based on its unique pectoral girdle, but was described as otherwise very similar to both ''Shunosaurus lii'' and ''
Kunmingosaurus
This list of informally named dinosaurs is a listing of dinosaurs (excluding Aves; birds and their extinct relatives) that have never been given formally published scientific names. This list only includes names that were not properly published ...
''.
Description
''Shunosaurus'' was first estimated to be long; later and more complete finds indicated a somewhat smaller size. In 2010
Gregory S. Paul
Gregory Scott Paul (born December 24, 1954) is an American freelance researcher, author and illustrator who works in paleontology, and more recently has examined sociology and theology. He is best known for his work and research on theropod dino ...
estimated the length at , the weight at . ''Shunosaurus'' was very short-necked for a sauropod, being only "surpassed" in this respect by ''
Brachytrachelopan
''Brachytrachelopan'' is a short-necked sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic ( Oxfordian to Tithonian) of Argentina. The holotype and only known specimen (Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio MPEF-PV 1716) was collected from an erosion ...
''. The skulls found are mostly compressed or disarticulated and the interpretation of the head form has varied from broad, short and deep to extremely narrow and pointed. The upper and lower jaws were strongly curved upwards, allowing them to function as a pair of garden shears. The teeth were fairly robust but elongated with a crown length of up to . They show a unique combination of a cylindrical body ending in a spatulate tip. Published in 1989 was the discovery that the tail ended in a
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
, equipped on its top with two successive spikes formed by cone-shaped
osteoderm
Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct amp ...
s with a length of . The club was probably used to fend off predators.
File:Shunosaurus life restoration.jpg, Life restoration
File:Shunosaurus李氏蜀龙头骨.jpg, Skull
Classification
![Shunosaurus_Scale](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Shunosaurus_Scale.svg)
''Shunosaurus'' was originally classified as a member of the
Cetiosaurinae; in 1992 Dong assigned it to Shunosaurinae within the
Cetiosauridae
Cetiosauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs which was first proposed by Richard Lydekker in 1888. While traditionally a wastebasket taxon containing various unrelated species, some recent studies have found that it may represent a natural c ...
.
Cladistic
Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...
analyses have rendered conflicting results. In 1995
Paul Upchurch
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
published a study in which ''Shunosaurus'' belonged to the
Euhelopodidae
Euhelopodidae is a family of sauropod 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 or ...
together with other Jurassic Chinese sauropods. However, an analysis by
Jeffrey Wilson in 2002 indicated it had a very basal position within the
Eusauropoda
Eusauropoda (meaning "true sauropods") is a derived clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Eusauropods represent the node-based group that includes all descendant sauropods starting with the basal eusauropods of ''Shunosaurus'', and possibly ''Barapasaur ...
. ''Shunosaurus'' is perhaps related to ''
Rhoetosaurus
''Rhoetosaurus'' (meaning "Rhoetos lizard"), named after Rhoetus, a titan in Greek Mythology, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic ( Oxfordian) Walloon Coal Measures of what is now eastern Australia. ''Rhoetosaurus'' is estimated t ...
'' from
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Paleobiology
![Zigong Dinosaur Museum Shunosaurus tail club](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Zigong_Dinosaur_Museum_Shunosaurus_tail_club.jpg)
Its neck length indicates that ''Shunosaurus'' was a low browser. The form of its jaws is well-adapted to processing large amounts of coarse plant material.
[Chatterjee, S. & Zheng, Z. 2002. "Cranial anatomy of ''Shunosaurus'', a basal sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China". ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 136(1): 145–169]
''Shunosaurus'' accounts for 90% of the fossils found in the Dashanpu fauna, showing it was a dominant and/ or common member of its
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
and
environment
Environment most often refers to:
__NOTOC__
* Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally
* Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...
. It shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with other sauropods, ''
Datousaurus
''Datousaurus'' (meaning "chieftain lizard" or "big-head lizard"; originally named using the Malay ''datu'', after its Chinese nickname ''qiulong'' - literally "chieftain dragon" - but also a pun on its big head; ''da tou'' means "big head" in Ch ...
'', ''
Omeisaurus
''Omeisaurus'' (meaning "Omei lizard") is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period (Bathonian-Callovian stage) of what is now China. Its name comes from Mount Emei, where it was discovered in the lower Shaximiao Formation o ...
'' and ''
Protognathosaurus
''Protognathosaurus'' (meaning "early jaw lizard") is a genus of herbivorous dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. It was a sauropod found at Dashanpu in Sichuan in what is present-day China.
In 1988 Zhang Yihun named and described the type spec ...
'', the possible
ornithopod
Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous wo ...
''
Xiaosaurus
''Xiaosaurus'' ("dawn lizard", ), is a genus of small herbivorous dinosaur from the middle Jurassic, approximately 169 to 163.5 mya. ''Xiaosaurus'' lived in what is now the Sichuan Basin of China.
Discovery and naming
In 1979 and 1980, tw ...
'', and the early
stegosaur ''
Huayangosaurus
''Huayangosaurus'' is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. The name derives from "Huayang" (華陽), an alternate name for Sichuan (the province where it was discovered), and "saurus", meaning "lizard". It lived ...
'', as well as the carnivorous
theropod
Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...
''
Gasosaurus
''Gasosaurus'' () is a genus of tetanuran theropod that lived approximately 171.6 to 161.2 million years ago during the middle of the Jurassic Period. The name "''Gasosaurus''" is derived from the English "''gasoline''" and the Greek () ("l ...
''.
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q131404
Middle Jurassic dinosaurs of Asia
Eusauropoda
Taxa named by Dong Zhiming
Fossil taxa described in 1983
Paleontology in Sichuan