Open Paleo

Liubangosaurus

Mo et al., 2010 loo-BANG-o-SOR-us

Named after Liubang village, the holotype locality in Guangxi Province, China; meaning "Liubang lizard"

121.4–113.2 million years ago Aptian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Liubangosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now China. Liubangosaurus is known from the holotype NHMG 8152, five complete and articulated middle-caudal dorsal vertebrae that were collected from the Xinlong Formation in Fusui County, Guangxi Province. The type species is L. hei, which honors He Wenjian, who discovered the site where Liubangosaurus was discovered.

Diagnosis

  1. Prezygapophysis closely contacts with parapophysis, with the prdl and prpl absent.
  2. Cavity present on the dorsal surface of the diapophysis.
  3. Neural spine very low, with its distal end level with that of the diapophysis.
  4. Distal end of the neural spine strongly expanded laterally to form a platform.
  5. Vertically directed infradiapophyseal lamina expands or bifurcates ventrally to form an inverted 'Y'.
  6. Highly positioned parapophyses large and tear-drop in shape.

Species

Liubangosaurus hei Mo et al., 2010

Type species

Named for He Wenjian, who discovered the fossil site at Liubang Quarry in Guangxi Province, China, honored in the genitive Latin '-i' suffix.

Holotype
NHMG 8152 , Natural History Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region
Material
Five articulated middle dorsal vertebrae (probably D.5–D.9).
Horizon
Xinlong Formation, Aptian, Early Cretaceous , 121.4–113.2 million years ago
Locality
Liubang village, Guangxi, China

References

  1. Mo, J.; Xu, X.; Buffetaut, E. (2010). A new eusauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Guangxi Province, southern China. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 84(6): 1328-1335. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2010.00331.x mo2010a
  2. Mo, J.; Buffetaut, E.; Tong, H.; Amiot, R.; Cavin, L.; Cuny, G.; Suteethorn, V.; Suteethorn, S.; Jiang, S. (2016). Early Cretaceous vertebrates from the Xinlong Formation of Guangxi (southern China): a review. Geological Magazine 153(1): 143-159. doi:10.1017/S0016756815000394

    Establishes that Xinlong has precedence over Napai for this unit.

    mo2016a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026b