Open Paleo

Gasosaurus

Dong & Tang, 1985 GAS-o-SAWR-us /ˌɡæsoʊˈsɔːrəs/

From English 'gasoline' and Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard', named for the gasoline company whose workers discovered the fossils.

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

Gasosaurus is a genus of tetanuran theropod that lived approximately 171.6 to 161.2 million years ago during the middle of the Jurassic Period. The name "Gasosaurus" is derived from the English "gasoline" and the Greek σαῦρος (sauros) ("lizard / generic reptile"). Only one species is currently recognized, G. constructus, from which the specific name honors the gasoline company that found the Dashanpu fossil quarry in Sichuan Province, China, now named as the Lower Shaximiao Formation.

Under dispute

Gasosaurus constructus is most likely a basal tetanuran of indeterminate position (Carrano, Benson and Sampson, 2012). It has variously been interpreted as a basal coelurosaur or a basal carnosaur, and has been suggested to be synonymous with the contemporaneous Kaijiangosaurus lini from the same formation. It is placed conservatively at Tetanurae incertae sedis.

Diagnosis

  1. Cervical vertebrae platycoelous with non-sloping ventral surface and weakly developed ventral keel
  2. Dorsal vertebrae with low neural arch; neural spines plate-like with no nodule at apex
  3. Five sacral vertebrae fused to form sacrum, anterior four firmly coalesced with partially fused neural arches but free neural spines
  4. Nutrient foramen present on medial surface of humerus below distal margin of humeral head
  5. Ilium low with weakly developed anterior process
  6. Pubis and ischium with circular shaft cross-section and lacking boot-shaped distal process, distally unfused

Species

Gasosaurus constructus Dong & Tang, 1985

Type species

From Latin 'constructus' meaning 'built' or 'constructed', honoring the gas facility construction project during which the fossils were discovered in Sichuan Province, China.

Holotype
IVPP V7264 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Incomplete skeleton lacking skull: 4 cervical vertebrae, 7 dorsal vertebrae, 5 sacral vertebrae, 7 caudal vertebrae, a complete pair of humeri, left ilium, pubis, and ischium, and a complete left hindlimb.
Horizon
lower Shaximiao Formation, Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic , 170.9–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Dashanpu, Sichuan, China

References

  1. Dong, Z.; Tang, Z. (1985). A new Mid-Jurassic theropod (Gasosaurus constructus gen. et sp. nov.) from Dashanpu, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 23(1): 77-83. dong1985a
  2. 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

    Recovered Gasosaurus as a basal tetanuran of indeterminate position in Tetanurae phylogeny.

    carrano2012a