Open Paleo

Jiangjunosaurus

Jia et al., 2007 jee-AHNG-joo-no-SOR-us

Named after Jiangjunmiao ('temple of the general'), an abandoned town near the discovery site in Xinjiang, China, with Chinese jiangjun meaning 'general', combined with Greek sauros (lizard); meaning 'general's temple lizard'

165.3–154.8 million years ago Callovian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic
Middle Jurassic and Late Jurassic stages

Jiangjunosaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaurs from the Oxfordian-age (Upper Jurassic) Shishugou Formation of the Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China.

Diagnosis

  1. Tooth crowns symmetrical and proportionally wide mesiodistally (basal-apical length subequal to mesiodistal width)
  2. Sub-rectangular axial neural spine in lateral view with tall anterior margin
  3. Large openings (enlarged nutrient foramina) on lateral surfaces of posterior cervical centra

Species

Jiangjunosaurus junggarensis Jia et al., 2007

Type species

Named for the Junggar Basin of Xinjiang, China, where the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
IVPP V14724 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Partial articulated skeleton including partial skull, nearly complete mandible, 11 articulated cervical vertebrae, some ribs, two dermal plates.
Horizon
upper Shishugou Formation, Callovian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic , 165.3–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Jiangjunmiao, Xinjiang, China Jia and colleagues (2007) give the horizon as the upper section of the Shishugou, Oxfordian, without tying it to the dated tuffs, which on the ICS chart v2024/12 straddle the base of the Oxfordian.

References

  1. Jia, C.; Forster, C. A.; Xu, X.; Clark, J. M. (2007). The first stegosaur (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from the Upper Jurassic Shishugou Formation of Xinjiang, China. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 81(3): 351-356. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2007.tb00959.x jia2007a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a