Open Paleo

Gongbusaurus

Dong et al., 1983 GUNG-boo-SOR-us Nomen dubium

Named for the imperial Chinese ministry of public works (gong bu), honoring the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu who served in that ministry after 760 AD as a 'junior consultant' (shi yi), combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'.

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

Gongbusaurus is a genus of ornithischian, perhaps ornithopod, dinosaur that lived between about 160 and 157 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic period. A small herbivore, it is very poorly known. Two species have been assigned to it, but as the original name is based on teeth, there is no concrete evidence to connect the two species. Its fossils have been found in China.

Under dispute

Gongbusaurus shiyii was named for two isolated teeth from the Shaximiao Formation and first placed in Fabrosauridae (Dong and colleagues, 1983). Later reviews treat it as a nomen dubium, an indeterminate ornithischian (Weishampel and Witmer, 1990; Norman and colleagues, 2004), and Galton (2007) finds the teeth closer to ankylosaurs than to ornithopods. Butler and colleagues (2008) and Boyd (2015) exclude it from their analyses as a taxon based only on teeth. The referred species "G." wucaiwanensis, from Xinjiang, rests on postcranial material whose holotype is now unlocated (Butler and colleagues, 2008).

Diagnosis

  1. Premaxillary tooth crown rounded, slightly curved posteriorly, oval, asymmetrical, and laterally convex with a subcircular root cross-section
  2. Anterior and posterior carinae bear laminar ridges with very small, tightly packed denticles
  3. Lingual side of premaxillary crown ornamented with folded laminae compressed from root to apex
  4. Cheek tooth laterally compressed with both sides enamel-covered and a medial inflated ridge extending to form a sharp medial cusp
  5. Cheek tooth lacks both a cingulum and longitudinal laminae on the crown

Species

Gongbusaurus shiyii Dong et al., 1983 Nomen dubium

Type species

Named for the rank of shi yi ('junior consultant') held by the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu while working in Sichuan for the imperial ministry of public works; the epithet also puns on a secondary meaning of 'register of lost objects', alluding to the teeth being found separately among the collected bones.

Holotype
IVPP V9069 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Complete isolated left premaxillary tooth lacking its root, and a single laterally compressed cheek tooth (two isolated teeth total).
Horizon
upper Shaximiao Formation, Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic , 170.9–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Huangtong Elementary School, Duxin Commune, Sichuan, China

References

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

    Named Gongbusaurus shiyii for two isolated teeth and placed it in Fabrosauridae.

    dong1983a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Lists the genus among nomina dubia, as an indeterminate basal ornithischian.

    jones2026a
  3. Weishampel, D. B.; Witmer, L. M. (1990). Lesothosaurus, Pisanosaurus, and Technosaurus. The Dinosauria (Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H., eds.) 416-425. University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Listed Gongbusaurus shiyii among nomina dubia, on two isolated teeth.

    weishampel1990a
  4. Norman, D. B.; Witmer, L. M.; Weishampel, D. B. (2004). Basal Ornithischia. The Dinosauria, Second Edition (Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H., eds.) 325-334. University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Listed Gongbusaurus shiyii among nomina dubia and as Ornithischia indet.

    norman2004c
  5. Galton, P. M. (2007). Teeth of ornithischian dinosaurs (mostly Ornithopoda) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of the western United States. Horns and Beaks: Ceratopsian and Ornithopod Dinosaurs 17-47. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.

    Called Gongbusaurus shiyii a nomen dubium, probably an ankylosaur rather than an ornithopod.

    galton2007c
  6. Butler, R. J.; Upchurch, P.; Norman, D. B. (2008). The phylogeny of the ornithischian dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6(1): 1-40. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002271

    Excluded Gongbusaurus shiyii as a tooth taxon; reported the holotype of 'G.' wucaiwanensis unlocated.

    butler2008b
  7. Boyd, C. A. (2015). The systematic relationships and biogeographic history of ornithischian dinosaurs. PeerJ 3: e1523. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.1523

    Excluded Gongbusaurus shiyii as of dubious validity, being based solely on two isolated teeth.

    boyd2015a