Open Paleo

Dashanpusaurus

Peng et al., 2005 dah-SHAHN-poo-SAWR-us

Named after Dashanpu, the township in Zigong, Sichuan Province, China where the fossils were unearthed, + Greek sauros ('lizard'), meaning 'Dashanpu lizard'.

170.9–154.8 million years ago Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic
Middle Jurassic and Late Jurassic stages

Dashanpusaurus is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the middle of the Jurassic period. The dinosaur was described in 2005 by Peng Guangzhao, Ye Yong, Gao Yuhui, Shu Chunkang, and Jiang Shan. Its type and only species is Dashanpusaurus dongi, named in honor of the paleontologist Dong Zhiming.

Diagnosis

  1. Cervical vertebrae short, the longest centrum only about 1.6 times the average dorsal length, with opisthocoelous centra, a weak ventral keel, and deep, elongate lateral pleurocoels
  2. Posterior cervical and anterior dorsal neural spines forming low, transversely wide plates with weakly bifurcate, shallowly V-shaped apices
  3. Dorsal centra platycoelous to weakly opisthocoelous, with pleurocoels well developed in the anterior dorsals but shallow or absent in the middle and posterior dorsals; presacral centra solid and apneumatic
  4. Middle and posterior dorsal neural spines heightened into thick transverse plates with enlarged, nearly square apices wider at the top than the base
  5. Ilium low and long with a prominent anterior process angled distinctly less than 90° to the pubic peduncle

Species

Dashanpusaurus dongi Peng et al., 2005

Type species

Named for paleontologist Dong Zhiming, in whose honor the species was dedicated.

Holotype
ZDM 5028 , Zigong Dinosaur Museum
Material
An incomplete skeleton: six cervical, twelve dorsal, four sacral, and 33 caudal vertebrae, the left ulna, pelvic girdle, and hind limbs.
Horizon
lower Shaximiao Formation, Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic , 170.9–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Dashanpu Quarry, Sichuan, China

References

  1. Peng, G.; Ye, Y.; Gao, Y.; Shu, C.; Jiang, S. (2005). Zìgòng dìqū zhū luó jì kǒnglóng dòngwù qún [Jurassic Dinosaur Faunas in Zigong]. 1-236. People's Publishing House, Sichuan Publishing Group. peng2005a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates.

    jones2026b