Open Paleo

Protognathosaurus

Olshevsky, 1991 proh-tog-NAY-tho-SAWR-us

From Greek protos (first, early) and gnathos (jaw) and sauros (lizard); meaning "early jaw lizard".

170.9–154.8 million years ago Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic
Middle Jurassic and Late Jurassic stages

Protognathosaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Lower Shaximiao Formation in Sichuan, present-day China.

Species

Protognathosaurus oxyodon (Zhang, 1988)

Type species

First named as Protognathus oxyodon

From Ancient Greek 'oxys' meaning 'sharp' and 'odon' meaning 'tooth', referring to the sharp replacement teeth visible in the known fossil jaw fragment.

Holotype
CV 00732 , Chongqing Museum of Natural History
Horizon
lower Shaximiao Formation, Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic , 170.9–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Dashanpu, Sichuan, China

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Protognathus preoccupied Name preoccupied by Protognathus (Insecta).

References

  1. Zhang, Y. (1988). The Middle Jurassic Dinosaur Fauna from Dashanpu, Zigong, Sichuan. Vol. III. Sauropod Dinosaurs (I). 89 pp. Sichuan Publishing House of Science and Technology, Chengdu, China.

    In Chinese. Original description of the type species as Protognathus oxyodon, a generic name later found to be preoccupied.

    zhang1988a
  2. Olshevsky, G. (1991). A revision of the parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, excluding the advanced Crocodylia. Mesozoic Meanderings 2: 1-196.

    Coins the replacement name Protognathosaurus for the preoccupied Protognathus.

    olshevsky1991a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate.

    jones2026b