Open Paleo

Yandusaurus

He, 1979 YEN-DOO-SAWR-us

From Yandu (the ancient name for Zigong, Sichuan Province, China, meaning 'salt capital') and Greek sauros ('lizard'), meaning 'Yandu lizard'

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

Yandusaurus is a genus of basal neornithischian dinosaur from the middle Jurassic (Bathonian age, approximately 168 to 162 Ma) of eastern Asia. The type species is Y. hongheensis, described in 1979 from the Shaximiao Formation of Sichuan Province, China.

Species

Yandusaurus hongheensis He, 1979

Type species

Named for the Honghe River near which the holotype was found.

Holotype
GCC V20501 , Chengdu University of Technology
Horizon
upper Shaximiao Formation, Bajocian–Oxfordian, Middle Jurassic–Late Jurassic , 170.9–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Hongheba, Zigong, Sichuan, China Li and colleagues (2011), reviewing the Shaximiao's dinosaur assemblages, place this species in the upper member at Hongheba, apart from the Dashanpu taxa of the lower member. Weishampel and colleagues (2004) and Jones (2026) instead file it under the lower Shaximiao, in faunal lists that group the Sichuan taxa together.

Synonyms of the genus

Name Type Reason
Honghesaurus nomen nudum Informal name; never met ICZN requirements for formal publication and is treated as referable to Yandusaurus. Per Olshevsky's Dinosaur Genera List.
Yubasaurus nomen nudum Informal name; never met ICZN requirements for formal publication and is treated as referable to Yandusaurus. Per Olshevsky's Dinosaur Genera List.

References

  1. He, X. (1979). A newly discovered ornithopod dinosaur Yandusaurus from Zigong, Sichuan. Contributions to International Exchange of Geology. Part 2. Stratigraphy and paleontology 116-123. Geological Publishing House, Beijing. he1979a
  2. Sereno, P. C. (1986). Phylogeny of the bird-hipped dinosaurs (Order Ornithischia). National Geographic Research 2(2): 234-256. sereno1986a
  3. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the appearance features.

    paul2024a
  4. Li, K.; Liu, J.; Yang, C.; Hu, F. (2011). Dinosaur assemblages from the Middle Jurassic Shaximiao Formation and Chuanjie Formation in the Sichuan-Yunnan Basin, China. li2011a
  5. Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.) (2004). The Dinosauria, Second Edition. University of California Press, Berkeley. weishampel2004a
  6. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Illustrated by E. Viola.

    jones2026a