Open Paleo

Taohelong

Yang et al., 2013 dow-huh-long

From Chinese Tao (the Tao River), he ("river"), and long ("dragon") — means "dragon of the Tao River"

125.8–113.2 million years ago Barremian–Aptian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Taohelong is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur known from Early Cretaceous rocks in north-central China. It is based on Gansu Dinosaur Museum (GSDM) 00021, fossils including a tail vertebra, ribs, a left ilium (the main bone of the hip), and bony armor recovered from the Hekou Group in the Lanzhou-Minhe Basin. The animal's armor includes part of a "sacral shield", a carpet of osteoderms over the hips found in some other ankylosaurians. Taohelong was named and described in 2013 by Yang Jing-Tao, You Hai-Lu, Li Da-Qing, and Kong De-Lai. The type species is Taohelong jinchengensis. The generic name means "dragon (long) of the river (he) Tao". The specific name refers to the provenance at Jincheng.

Under dispute

Yang and colleagues (2013) recover Taohelong as the sister of Polacanthus in their majority-rule tree, though only within an unresolved Nodosauridae in the strict consensus; Madzia and colleagues (2021) list it in both Polacanthinae and Nodosaurinae under those clades' reference phylogenies. Arbour and Currie (2015) recover it in an unresolved nodosaurid polytomy, Raven and colleagues (2023) usually outside the main ankylosaur clades, and Soto-Acuña and colleagues (2024) prune it as unstable. Known only from postcranial material, it is placed at Ankylosauria incertae sedis.

Diagnosis

  1. Neural canal of proximo-middle caudal inverted trapezium
  2. Lateral edge of preacetabular process inverted S-shaped in dorsal view
  3. Sacral shield composed of various-sized and irregularly-arranged osteoderms

Species

Taohelong jinchengensis Yang et al., 2013

Type species

Named for Jincheng, the ancient name of the city of Lanzhou, near which the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
GSDM 00021 , Gansu Dinosaur Museum
Material
Proximo-middle caudal vertebra, three dorsal ribs, nearly complete left ilium, and several armors including partial sacral shield
Horizon
middle Hekou Group, Barremian–Aptian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–113.2 million years ago
Locality
the border area of Yongjing and Lintao counties, eastern Lanzhou-Minhe Basin, Gansu, China

References

  1. Yang, J. T.; You, H. L.; Li, D. Q.; Kong, D. L. (2013). [First discovery of polacanthine ankylosaur dinosaur in Asia]. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 51(4): 265-277. yang2013a
  2. Madzia, D.; Arbour, V. M.; Boyd, C. A.; Farke, A. A.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Evans, D. C. (2021). The phylogenetic nomenclature of ornithischian dinosaurs. PeerJ 9: e12362. doi:10.7717/peerj.12362

    Lists Taohelong in Polacanthinae and in Nodosaurinae under the reference phylogenies of those two clades.

    madzia2021a
  3. Arbour, V. M.; Currie, P. J. (2015). Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 14(5): 385-444. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2015.1059985

    Recovers Taohelong with Dongyangopelta and Sauroplites in an unresolved polytomy within Nodosauridae.

    arbour2015a
  4. Raven, T. J.; Barrett, P. M.; Joyce, C. B.; Maidment, S. C. R. (2023). The phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the armoured dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Thyreophora). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 21(1): 2205433. doi:10.1080/14772019.2023.2205433

    Usually recovers Taohelong, with Silvisaurus, outside the four main ankylosaur clades.

    raven2023a
  5. Soto-Acuña, S.; Vargas, A. O.; Kaluza, J. (2024). A new look at the first dinosaur discovered in Antarctica: reappraisal of Antarctopelta oliveroi (Ankylosauria: Parankylosauria). Advances in Polar Science 35(1): 78-107. doi:10.12429/j.advps.2023.0036

    Prunes Taohelong as a wildcard taxon.

    soto-acuña2024a