''Fusuisaurus'' (meaning "
Fusui
Fusui County is a county in the southwest of Guangxi, China. It is the easternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Chongzuo.
Geography
Fusui is located in southwestern Guangxi and in eastern Chongzuo City. It borders Qingxi ...
lizard" from the name of the county where it was discovered) is a genus 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 origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
from the
Early Cretaceous of China.
Fragmentary postcranial remains of this animal have been discovered in 2001 in the
Napai Formation of Guangxi,
China and consist of the left ilium, left pubis, anterior caudals, most of the dorsal ribs and distal end of the left femur. This sauropod has been described as a basal
titanosauriform
Macronaria is a clade of sauropod dinosaurs. Macronarians are named after the large diameter of the nasal opening of their skull, known as the external naris, which exceeded the size of the orbit, the skull opening where the eye is located (hence ...
.
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 specime ...
is ''F. zhaoi'', named in honour of Chinese paleontologist
Zhao Xijin
Zhao Xijin (赵喜进; born c. 1935 died July 21, 2012) was a Chinese paleontologist notable for having named numerous dinosaurs. He was a professor at Beijing's Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology.
Biography
Zhao Xijin was ...
.
Size
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 ...
gave a length of 22 meters (72 ft) and a weight of 35 tonnes (38.6 short tons). This sauropod was very large animal, as its humerus was 183.5 cm long. Despite this, the weight of this sauropod is estimated "only" at about 35 000 kilograms.
References
Sources
*
Early Cretaceous dinosaurs of Asia
Titanosaurs
Cretaceous China
Paleontology in Guangxi
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