Open Paleo

Wulagasaurus

Godefroit et al., 2008 woo-LAH-guh-SOR-us

Named for the Wulaga locality in Heilongjiang, China, where the fossils were found, combined with Greek 'sauros' meaning 'lizard'.

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Wulagasaurus is a genus of saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Heilongjiang, China.

Diagnosis

  1. Extremely elongated, slender dentary, its rostrocaudal length 6.8 times its maximum dorsoventral height
  2. Dentary with a markedly dorsally concave diastema
  3. Caudal ramus of the jugal extending caudodorsally at a low inclination, forming an angle of about 140° with the jugal long axis
  4. Humeral deltopectoral crest moderately expanded craniolaterally (unlike basal hadrosauroids)
  5. Ventral margin of the supracetabular process at about the dorsoventral midpoint of the iliac central plate (unlike basal hadrosauroids)
  6. Relatively short iliac preacetabular process and a faint quadrate buttress (unlike Brachylophosaurus and Maiasaura)

Species

Wulagasaurus dongi Godefroit et al., 2008

Type species

Named for Dong Zhiming, the prominent Chinese paleontologist who has described numerous dinosaur taxa.

Holotype
GMH W184 , Geological Museum of Heilongjiang
Material
Right dentary.
Horizon
upper Yuliangzi Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Western hill adjacent to the grain depot of Wulaga Town, Heilongjiang, China

References

  1. Godefroit, P.; Hai, S.; Yu, T.; Lauters, P. (2008). New Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs from the Uppermost Cretaceous of Northeastern China. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53(1): 47-74. Polska Akademia Nauk Instytut Paleobiologii (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences). doi:10.4202/app.2008.0103 godefroit2008a
  2. Xing, H.; Prieto-Márquez, A.; Gu, W.; Yu, T. (2012). Reevaluation and phylogenetic analysis of the hadrosaurine dinosaur Wulagasaurus dongi from the Maastrichtian of northeast China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 50(2): 160-169.

    Revises the diagnosis of Wulagasaurus dongi from new and original Wulaga bonebed material and removes previously referred lambeosaurine specimens from the hypodigm.

    xing2012c