Open Paleo

Sinopeltosaurus

Ulansky, 2014 SY-no-PEL-to-SAWR-us Nomen dubium

From Greek 'sino-' (Chinese, after the Sinae) and 'peltē' (small shield) plus 'sauros' (lizard); meaning approximately 'Chinese small-shielded lizard', a replacement name for the preoccupied Sinopelta Ulansky, 2014a.

199.5–192.9 million years ago Sinemurian, Early Jurassic
Early Jurassic stages

Sinopeltosaurus is a dubious genus of extinct thyreophoran ornithischian dinosaur described by Roman Ulansky for the articulated ankle specimen FMNH CUP 2338 from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China. The type and only species is S. minimus. The specimen was originally described by Irmis and Knoll (2008) as an indeterminate basal ornithischian and was later identified as a nomen dubium by Galton and Carpenter (2016), who listed it as Ornithischia indet., possibly Thyreophora indet. Ulansky's companion paper used the variant name 'Sinopelta minima' for the same animal; Galton and Carpenter (2016) acted as first revisers under the ICZN and selected Sinopeltosaurus minimus as the official combination.

Under dispute

Sinopeltosaurus, based on an articulated tarsus from the Early Jurassic of China, is a nomen dubium, and the original naming did not meet ICZN requirements (Galton and Carpenter, 2016). Irmis and Knoll (2008) described the material as an indeterminate ornithischian, finding no character states that support placement in Thyreophora; Galton and Carpenter (2016) regard it as an indeterminate ornithischian or possibly an indeterminate basal thyreophoran.

Species

Sinopeltosaurus minimus Ulansky, 2014 Nomen dubium

Type species

From Latin 'minimus' (smallest), in reference to the small overall size of the type specimen.

Holotype
FMNH CUP 2338 , Field Museum of Natural History
Material
Articulated left tarsus comprising the distal tibia, distal fibula, astragalus, calcaneum, distal tarsals III and IV, metatarsals II–IV, and several partial phalanges (Irmis and Knoll, 2008).
Horizon
Zhangjiawa Member, Lufeng Formation, Sinemurian, Early Jurassic , 199.5–192.9 million years ago
Locality
Hei Koa Peng, Yunnan, China

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Sinopelta preoccupied Ulansky originally proposed Sinopelta minima for the FMNH CUP 2338 material in a companion DINOLOGIA paper (Ulansky, 2014a), but the name Sinopelta was preoccupied by Sinopelta Xue and Zhang, 1996 (Diptera). Ulansky (2014b) coined Sinopeltosaurus as the replacement name in a second DINOLOGIA paper the same year. Both Ulansky (2014) papers are treated as nomina dubia by Galton and Carpenter (2016).

References

  1. Irmis, R. B.; Knoll, F. (2008). New ornithischian dinosaur material from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation of China. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 247(1): 117-128. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2008/0247-0117

    Original peer-reviewed description of FMNH CUP 2338 as Ornithischia indet., from the Lower Jurassic Lufeng Formation; predates Ulansky's informal naming.

    irmis2008a
  2. Ulansky, R. E. (2014). Dinosaurs Classification. Basal Thyreophora & Stegosauria. Dinologia 1-8.

    Informal DINOLOGIA-series classification table in which Ulansky proposed the (later preoccupied) name Sinopelta minima for FMNH CUP 2338. Treated as nomen dubium by Galton and Carpenter (2016).

    ulansky2014a
  3. Ulansky, R. E. (2014). Evolution of the stegosaurs (Dinosauria; Ornithischia). Dinologia.

    In Russian. Informal DINOLOGIA monograph in which Ulansky replaces the preoccupied Sinopelta with Sinopeltosaurus; declared a nomen dubium by Galton and Carpenter (2016) on ICZN Art. 13 grounds.

    ulansky2014b
  4. Galton, P. M.; Carpenter, K. (2016). The plated dinosaur Stegosaurus longispinus Gilmore, 1914 (Dinosauria: Ornithischia; Upper Jurassic, western USA), type species of Alcovasaurus n. gen. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen 279(2): 185-208. Schweizerbart. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2016/0551

    Declares Ulansky's 2014 Sinopelta and Sinopeltosaurus nomina nuda (ICZN Art. 13 + venue) and nomina dubia; regards the specimen as Ornithischia indet. or possibly basal Thyreophora indet.

    galton2016a
  5. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Treats Sinopeltosaurus as an early thyreophoran.

    jones2026a