Open Paleo

Chienkosaurus

Young, 1942 Nomen dubium

lizard of Jiange County

Chienkosaurus is a dubious genus of carnivorous theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Sichuan, China, known from teeth found in the beds Young (1942) called the Kuangyuan Series, at Locality 47 south of Guangyuan. It was probably related to Szechuanosaurus.

Species

Chienkosaurus ceratosauroides Young, 1942 Nomen dubium

Type species

From the genus name *Ceratosaurus* and Greek '-oides' (resembling); meaning 'resembling Ceratosaurus'.

Holotype
IVPP V237 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Four isolated teeth.
Horizon
Late Jurassic
Locality
Locality 47 (Chentsianyen escarpment), south of Kuangyuan, Sichuan, China Young (1942) gives Locality 47 as "belonging to the top part of the Kuangyuan Series and immediately below the Chentsianyen conglomerate". Young and colleagues (1943) place the Kuangyuan Series concordantly above the Tsienfuyen Series and date the two together to "Upper Jurassic time (Purbeckian)", with the overlying conglomerate "tentatively regarded as of Cretaceous in age by its stratigraphic position". Dong and colleagues (1983) write that the region's red clastics "were formerly referred to as the Guangyuan Group", and that Chienkosaurus and Szechuanosaurus "are derived from the same stratigraphic position, the Guangyuan Group". Li and colleagues (2011) list the species in the upper Shaximiao Formation, in a basin-wide faunal list.

References

  1. Young, C. C. (1942). Fossil Vertebrates from Kuangyuan, N. Szechuan, China. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 22(3-4): 293-309. Wiley. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.1942.mp223-4016.x young1942a
  2. Young, C. C.; Bien, M. N.; Mi, T. H. (1943). Some geologic problems of the Tsinling. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 23(1-2): 15-34. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.1943.mp231-2002.x

    Places the Kuangyuan Series concordantly above the Tsienfuyen Series, below a conglomerate tentatively dated Cretaceous, and dates the two series Upper Jurassic.

    young1943a
  3. Dong, Z.; Zhou, S.; Zhang, H. (1983). [Dinosaurs from the Jurassic of Sichuan]. Palaeontologica Sinica, New Series C, Whole Number 162(23): 1-136.

    Places Chienkosaurus and Szechuanosaurus in the same stratigraphic position, the Guangyuan Group, and synonymizes the one carnosaur tooth with Szechuanosaurus.

    dong1983a
  4. Li, K.; Liu, J.; Yang, C.; Hu, F. (2011). Dinosaur assemblages from the Middle Jurassic Shaximiao Formation and Chuanjie Formation in the Sichuan-Yunnan Basin, China.

    Lists the species in the upper member of the Shaximiao Formation in a basin-wide faunal list, without discussing the Guangyuan locality.

    li2011a
  5. Chure, D. J. (2000). A new species of Allosaurus from the Morrison Formation of Dinosaur National Monument (UT-CO) and a revision of the theropod family Allosauridae. Doctoral thesis, Columbia University.

    Calls Chienkosaurus a nomen dubium and Theropoda indeterminate.

    chure2000a
  6. Carrano, M. T.; Benson, R. B. J.; Sampson, S. D. (2012). The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 10(2): 211-300. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.630927

    Finds the teeth of Szechuanosaurus campi, with which the one theropod tooth of Chienkosaurus was synonymized, not diagnostic below Theropoda.

    carrano2012a