Open Paleo

Tuojiangosaurus

Dong et al., 1977 TWAW-JYAHNG-o-SAWR-us

Named after the Tuo River (Tuojiang) of Sichuan Province, China, combined with Greek sauros meaning 'lizard'; translates as 'Tuo River lizard'

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

Tuojiangosaurus is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period, recovered from the Upper Shaximiao Formation of what is now Sichuan Province in China.

Diagnosis

  1. 2–3 supraorbital bones bearing raised wart-like nodose processes on their surfaces
  2. Teeth numerous, asymmetrical, and overlapping in both upper and lower jaws (unlike symmetrical non-overlapping teeth of Stegosaurus and Kentrosaurus)
  3. Sacrum with four sacral vertebrae whose ribs and transverse processes are incompletely fused, leaving four pairs of openings on the dorsal surface (unique among known Stegosaurinae)
  4. Femoral fourth trochanter reduced to a small crest located at approximately mid-femur (not upper third as in Zigongosaurus)
  5. 17 pairs of dermal plates and spines arranged in two symmetrical rows, the greatest number of any known stegosaurine; plates grading from rounded-oval cervically to triangular dorsally to flattened conical sacrally/caudally

Species

Tuojiangosaurus multispinus Dong et al., 1977

Type species

From Latin 'multus' meaning 'many' and 'spina' meaning 'spine', referring to the animal's numerous dorsal spines.

Holotype
CV 209 , Chongqing Museum of Natural History
Material
Nearly complete skeleton including skull, vertebral column, fore- and hind-limbs, and a series of dermal plates and spikes.
Notes
The holotype postcranial material could not be located as of Maidment and colleagues (2006).
Horizon
upper Shaximiao Formation, Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic , 170.9–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Wujiaba, Sichuan, China

References

  1. Dong, Z.; Li, X.; Zhou, S.; Zhang, Y. (1977). On the stegosaurian remains from Zigong (Tzekung), Szechuan province. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 15(4): 307-312. dong1977a
  2. Maidment, S. C. R.; Wei, G. (2006). A review of the Late Jurassic stegosaurs (Dinosauria, Stegosauria) from the People's Republic of China. Geological Magazine 143(5): 621-634. Cambridge University Press (CUP). doi:10.1017/s0016756806002500

    Redescription of Tuojiangosaurus.

    maidment2006a
  3. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the appearance features.

    paul2024a