Open Paleo

Nanyangosaurus

Xu et al., 2000 nahn-yahng-o-SAWR-us

Named for Nanyang, a city in Henan Province, China near where it was found, combined with Greek '-saurus' meaning 'lizard'.

93.9–72.2 million years ago Turonian–Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Nanyangosaurus is a genus of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur belonging to the Hadrosauromorpha that lived in the Late Cretaceous of present-day Henan Province, China.

Diagnosis

  1. Second metacarpal exceeds 90% the length of third and fourth metacarpals
  2. Fourth metacarpal exceptionally robust distally with marked distal transverse expansion
  3. Manual phalanx IV-1 with distal transverse width greater than phalangeal length
  4. Second metatarsal dorsoventral length greater than third metatarsal

Species

Nanyangosaurus zhugeii Xu et al., 2000

Type species

Named for Zhuge Liang, the legendary strategist and one of the most famous historic inhabitants of Nanyang, the city near the discovery site.

Holotype
IVPP V11821 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Incomplete skeleton: partial dorsal vertebrae, complete sacral vertebrae, numerous caudal vertebrae, partial ischium, and nearly complete fore- and hindlimbs
Horizon
lower Xiaguan Formation, Turonian–Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 93.9–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Donggouling, Angou Village, Henan, China Wang and colleagues (2013) place the holotype low in the Xiaguan Formation, which they date as a whole, noting that no fossils useful for dating have yet been found in its lower strata. The "early to middle Coniacian" of Xing and colleagues (2014) cites only that paper.

References

  1. Xing, H.; Wang, D.; Han, F.; Sullivan, C.; Ma, Q.; He, Y.; Hone, D. W. E.; Yan, R.; Du, F.; Xu, X. (2014). A New Basal Hadrosauroid Dinosaur (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) with Transitional Features from the Late Cretaceous of Henan Province, China. PLoS ONE 9(6): e98821. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0098821

    Gives the horizon as "the early to middle Coniacian lower portion of the Xiaguan Formation", citing Wang and colleagues (2013).

    xing2014a
  2. Xu, X.; Zhao, X. J.; Lü, J. C.; Huang, W. B.; Li, Z. Y.; Dong, Z. M. (2000). A new iguanodontian from Sangping Formation of Neixiang, Henan and its stratigraphical implication. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 38(3): 176-191. xu2000a
  3. Wang, D. Y.; Cao, X. Q.; Zhao, H. Y.; Cao, M. Z.; Fu, G. H.; Yan, F. C.; Qiang, W. G.; Wang, Y. Q. (2013). Discovery of invertebrate zoolite in the Xiaguan Formation of Xiaguan-Gaoqiu Basin, Henan, China, and its importance for stratigraphic subdivision comparison. Acta Geologica Sinica 87(8): 1049-1058.

    Erects the Xiaguan Formation on measured sections and places the holotype in it, superseding the Sangping Formation of the describing paper.

    wang2013c