Bellusaurus

Bellusaurus
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, 170 Ma
Restored skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Neosauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Genus: Bellusaurus
Dong, 1990
Species:  B. sui
Binomial name
Bellusaurus sui
Dong, 1990

Bellusaurus (meaning "Beautiful lizard", from Vulgar Latin bellus 'beautiful' (masculine form) and Ancient Greek sauros 'lizard') was a small short-necked sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic which measured about 4.8 metres (16 ft) long. Its fossils were found in Shishugou Formation rocks in the northeastern Junggar Basin in China.

An artist's depiction of Bellusaurus.

Discovery and species

The type (and only known) species is Bellusaurus sui, formally described by Dong Zhiming in 1990. Seventeen individuals were found in a single quarry, suggesting that a herd had been killed in a flash flood. Some features suggest they may have all been juveniles.[1]

References

  1. Dong, Z. M., 1990, On remains of the Sauropods from Kelamaili region, Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China: Vertebrata PalAsiatica, v. 28, n. 1, p. 43-58.

External links


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