Open Paleo

Datousaurus

Dong & Tang, 1984 DAH-TOH-SAWR-us

From Malay datu ('chieftain') + Greek sauros ('lizard'), meaning 'chieftain lizard' or 'big-head lizard'. The name also puns on the Chinese da tou ('big head'), referring to the animal's large skull.

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

Datousaurus is a sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Lower Shaximiao Formation in Sichuan province, China. It shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with other sauropods such as Shunosaurus, Omeisaurus, and Protognathosaurus, the neornithischian Xiaosaurus, and the early stegosaur Huayangosaurus as well as the carnivorous Gasosaurus.

Diagnosis

  1. Cervical vertebrae opisthocoel and greatly elongated, with well-developed lateral pleurocoels; cervical to dorsal centrum length ratio of 2.5:1
  2. Skull large, heavy, short and high with bluntly rounded snout and paired anterior nares; antorbital fenestra small and triangular
  3. Mandibular body high and robust, lacking a mandibular foramen; dentary well-developed
  4. Dorsal vertebrae platycoelous with solid centra lacking obvious lateral pleurocoels and well-developed neural spine lamellar structure
  5. Femur straight with sub-rounded cross-section, total length 122 cm; five digits present in both manus and pes with large, flattened claws

Species

Datousaurus bashanensis Dong & Tang, 1984

Type species

Named for Sichuan Province in China, derived from the poetic phrase 'the mountains of Ba and rivers of Shu' (Bā shān Shǔ shuǐ), a traditional literary reference to the Sichuan landscape.

Holotype
IVPP V7262, IVPP V7263 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Incomplete skeleton lacking the skull, with associated skull fragments.
Horizon
lower Shaximiao Formation, Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic , 170.9–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Dashanpu Quarry, Sichuan, China

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Bashunosaurus nomen nudum Informal name; never met ICZN requirements for formal publication and is treated as referable to Datousaurus. Per Olshevsky's Dinosaur Genera List.
Lancangosaurus nomen nudum Informal name; never met ICZN requirements for formal publication and is treated as referable to Datousaurus. Per Olshevsky's Dinosaur Genera List.

References

  1. Dong, Z.; Tang, Z. (1984). [Note on a new Mid-Jurassic sauropod (Datousaurus bashanensis gen. et sp. nov.) from Sichuan Basin, China]. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 22(1): 69-75. dong1984b