Open Paleo

Klamelisaurus

Zhao, 1993 klah-MAY-lee-SAWR-us

Named after the Kelameili (Klamelisaurus) Mountains in the Xinjiang region of China; meaning "Kelameili Mountains lizard"

165.3–161.5 million years ago Callovian, Middle Jurassic
Middle Jurassic stages

Klamelisaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Shishugou Formation of China. The type species is Klamelisaurus gobiensis, which was named by Zhao Xijin in 1993, based on a partial skeleton discovered in 1982 near the abandoned town of Jiangjunmiao. Zhao described Klamelisaurus as the only member of a new subfamily, Klamelisaurinae, among the now-defunct primitive sauropod order Bothrosauropodoidea. Since Zhao's description, Klamelisaurus received limited attention from researchers until Andrew Moore and colleagues redescribed it in 2020.

Diagnosis

  1. Scabrous, sheet-like anterior extensions of the spinoprezygapophyseal laminae (SPRLs) in middle-posterior cervical vertebrae.
  2. Oblong, blind pneumatic fossa just anterior to the spinodiapophyseal fossa (SDF) in middle-posterior cervical vertebrae.
  3. Triplicate posterior centroparapophyseal laminae (PCPLs) in some posterior dorsal vertebrae.
  4. Dorsally bifurcated spinodiapophyseal lamina (SPDL) in middle and posterior dorsal vertebrae, without confluence with either the SPRL or the spinopostzygapophyseal lamina (SPOL).
  5. Shelf-like embayment of the proximomedial corner of the anterior face of the humerus, bounded medially by a bulge.
  6. Flange-like ridge overhanging the medial surface of the shaft of metatarsal I.

Species

Klamelisaurus gobiensis Zhao, 1993

Type species

Named for the Gobi Desert, in which the type locality near Jiangjunmiao is situated.

Holotype
IVPP V9492 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Partial postcranial skeleton of one individual: nine middle-posterior cervical, twelve dorsal, and six sacral vertebrae, fragments of nineteen caudals and chevrons, a dorsal rib, the right scapulocoracoid, right humerus, ulna, and radius, partial pelvis, and hindlimb elements (femora, tibiae, fibulae, astragalus, metatarsals, and pedal phalanges).
Horizon
lower Shishugou Formation, Callovian, Middle Jurassic , 165.3–161.5 million years ago
Locality
Jiangjun Gebi, 35 km north of Jiangjunmiao, Xinjiang, China

References

  1. Zhao, X. (1993). A new mid-Jurassic sauropod (Klamelisaurus gobiensis gen. et sp. nov.) from Xinjiang, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 31(2): 132-138. zhao1993b
  2. Moore, A. J.; Upchurch, P.; Barrett, P. M.; Clark, J. M.; Xu, X. (2020). Osteology of Klamelisaurus gobiensis (Dinosauria, Eusauropoda) and the evolutionary history of Middle-Late Jurassic Chinese sauropods. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 18(16): 1299-1393. doi:10.1080/14772019.2020.1759706

    Comprehensive osteological redescription and emended diagnosis of the holotype IVPP V9492; shows Zhao's 1993 diagnostic characters are not autapomorphic.

    moore2020a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

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

    jones2026b