''Zuolong'' (Zuo's dragon) 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
coelurosaur
Coelurosauria (; from Greek, meaning "hollow tailed lizards") is the clade containing all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds than to carnosaurs.
Coelurosauria is a subgroup of theropod dinosaurs that includes compsognathids, tyrann ...
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 ...
which existed in what is now
Wucaiwan,
Xinjiang Autonomous Region
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autono ...
of
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 ...
during the
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 ...
period (lower
Oxfordian stage
The Oxfordian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the earliest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch, or the lowest stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 163.5 ± 1.0 Ma and 157.3 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago). The Oxfordian i ...
). It was found in the
Shishugou Formation
The Shishugou Formation () is a geological formation in Xinjiang, China.
Its strata date back to the Late Jurassic period. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Din ...
, Xinjiang, China.
Discovery
![Zuolong salleei](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Zuolong_salleei.jpg)
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 ...
fossil of ''Zuolong'',
IVPP V15912, a partial skeleton with skull, was discovered in 2001 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 ...
, in the upper part of the
Shishugou Formation
The Shishugou Formation () is a geological formation in Xinjiang, China.
Its strata date back to the Late Jurassic period. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Din ...
of
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
. It was a subadult animal which measured approximately in length and weighed up to approximately . ''Zuolong'' was named by Jonah N. Choiniere, James M. Clark,
Catherine A. Forster and
Xu Xing in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, and 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 ...
is ''Zuolong salleei''. The generic name honours General
Zuo Zongtang
Zuo Zongtang, Marquis Kejing ( also spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang; ; November 10, 1812 – September 5, 1885), sometimes referred to as General Tso, was a Chinese statesman and military leader of the late Qing dynasty.
Born in Xiangyin County ...
, who secured Xinjiang for China in the nineteenth century. The
specific name honours
Hilmar Sallee, whose
bequest
A bequest is property given by will. Historically, the term ''bequest'' was used for personal property given by will and ''deviser'' for real property. Today, the two words are used interchangeably.
The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act ...
helped finance the research.
The specific age for the holotype specimen is 161.2 to 155.2 million years ago. The holotype is considered by
Thomas R. Holtz Jr. to almost certainly be from a juvenile theropod.
Description
In 2016,
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 of ''Zuolong'' at , and its weight at 60 kilogrammes.
[Paul, G.S., 2016, ''The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, second edition'', Princeton University Press p. 120] The specimen is probably from a juvenile animal, and is quite complete.
Classification
''Zuolong'' is a basal coelurosaurian, possibly the most basal known.
In 2019 it was found to be a member of
Tyrannoraptora
Tyrannoraptora is a clade defined as "all descendants of the last common ancestor of ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' and ''Passer domesticus'' (the house sparrow)". The clade was named in 1999 by the American paleontologist Paul Sereno, though in his origi ...
in a polytomy with
Tyrannosauroidea
Tyrannosauroidea (meaning 'tyrant lizard forms') is a superfamily (or clade) of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes the family Tyrannosauridae as well as more basal relatives. Tyrannosauroids lived on the Laurasian supercontinent b ...
and
Maniraptoromorpha
Maniraptoromorpha is a clade of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs that includes taxa such as '' Ornitholestes'', Compsognathidae and Maniraptoriformes. There have been several phylogenetic analyses that have shown support in the grouping of Manir ...
.
References
Prehistoric coelurosaurs
Oxfordian life
Late Jurassic dinosaurs of Asia
Jurassic China
Fossils of China
Paleontology in Xinjiang
Fossil taxa described in 2010
Taxa named by Xu Xing
Taxa named by Catherine Forster
{{theropod-stub