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Gongpoquansaurus

You et al., 2014 gong-PO-chwen-SOR-us

Gongpoquan reptile; named after Gongpoquan in the Mazongshan area of Gansu Province, China, where the specimen was collected

113.2–100.5 million years ago Albian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Gongpoquansaurus is an extinct genus of basal hadrosauroid dinosaur that was not formally named until 2014, while the name was a nomen nudum for many years previously. It is known from IVPP V.11333, a partial skull and postcranial skeleton. It was collected in 1992 at locality IVPP 9208-21, from the Albian Zhonggou Formation (Xinminpu Group), in Mazongshan, Gansu Province, China. The specimen was first described and named by Lü Junchang in 1997 as the third species of Probactrosaurus, Probactrosaurus mazongshanensis. Following its description, several studies found it to be less derived than the type species of Probactrosaurus in relation to Hadrosauridae. In 2014, the species was formally redescribed, and the describers erected Gongpoquansaurus.

Diagnosis

  1. Transversely elongated supratemporal fenestra
  2. Broad and flat dorsal surface of the parietals with a deep median groove
  3. Large and straight nuchal crest

Species

Gongpoquansaurus mazongshanensis You et al., 2014

Type species

Named for the Mazongshan area of Gansu Province, China, where the holotype was collected.

Holotype
IVPP V11333 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Caudal part of an incomplete skull.
Horizon
middle Zhonggou Formation, Albian, Early Cretaceous , 113.2–100.5 million years ago
Locality
Gongpoquan Basin, Gansu, China The Zhonggou Formation's middle gray unit is an informal lithologic subdivision, not a named member. The unit itself is a working hypothesis, the beds being uncorrelated with Yujingzi.

References

  1. You, H. L.; Li, D. Q.; Dodson, P. (2014). Gongpoquansaurus mazongshanensis (Lü, 1997) comb. nov. (Ornithischia: Hadrosauroidea) from the Early Cretaceous of Gansu Province, northwestern China. Hadrosaurs 73-76. Indiana University Press.

    Erects the genus and places the holotype in the middle gray unit of the Zhonggou Formation, in the Gongpoquan Basin.

    you2014a
  2. You, H.; Morschhauser, E. M.; Li, D.; Dodson, P. (2018). Introducing the Mazongshan Dinosaur Fauna. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 38(sup1): 1-11. Taylor and Francis. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1396995 you2018a