Open Paleo

Zuolong

Choiniere et al., 2010 zoo-OH-long

Named in honor of General Zuo Zongtang (also known as General Tso), a 19th-century Chinese military leader, combined with Chinese 'long' meaning 'dragon'.

161.5–154.8 million years ago Oxfordian, Late Jurassic
Late Jurassic stages

Zuolong is an extinct genus of tetanuran theropod from the Late Jurassic period of China. The type and only species is Z. salleei. The generic name of Zuolong is in honor of General Zuo Zōngtáng (also known as "General Tso") with the Chinese word "long" which means dragon. The specific epithet "salleei" is in honor of Hilmar Sallee, who funded the expedition which led to the specimen's discovery.

Under dispute

Zuolong is usually recovered as a basal coelurosaur (Choiniere and colleagues, 2010; Sayão and colleagues, 2020, as sister to Aratasaurus), and Jones (2026) follows this, but Cau (2018) placed it further stemward as a basal tetanuran outside Coelurosauria. It is placed at Coelurosauria incertae sedis following the prevailing view.

Diagnosis

  1. Large slit-like quadrate foramen inclined medially at ~45° with associated deep fossa on the quadrate
  2. Sacral centrum 5 with obliquely oriented posterior articular surface angled anterodorsally
  3. Fovea capitis very large, occupying almost entire posterodorsal surface of femoral head
  4. Distal condyle of metatarsal III large with anteromedially projecting flange

Species

Zuolong salleei Choiniere et al., 2010

Type species

Named for Hilmar Sallee, who funded the expedition that led to the discovery of the holotype specimen.

Holotype
IVPP V15912 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Left premaxilla, maxilla, quadrate, quadratojugals, squamosal, ectopterygoids, pterygoid, lacrimal, partial frontal and parietal, postorbital, premaxillary and maxillary teeth, vertebrae, forelimb and hindlimb bones
Horizon
upper Shishugou Formation, Oxfordian, Late Jurassic , 161.5–154.8 million years ago
Locality
Wucaiwan, Xinjiang, China

References

  1. Choiniere, J. N.; Clark, J. M.; Forster, C. A.; Xu, X. (2010). A basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) of the Shishugou Formation in Wucaiwan, People's Republic of China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(6): 1773-1796. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.520779 choiniere2010b
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026c
  3. Cau, A. (2018). The assembly of the avian body plan: a 160-million-year long process. Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana 57(1): 1-25. doi:10.4435/BSPI.2018.01

    Placed Zuolong as a basal tetanuran outside Coelurosauria.

    cau2018a
  4. Sayão, J. M.; Saraiva, A. Á. F.; Brum, A. S.; Bantim, R. A. M.; de Andrade, R. C. L. P.; Cheng, X.; de Lima, F. J.; de Paula Silva, H.; Kellner, A. W. A. (2020). The first theropod dinosaur (Coelurosauria, Theropoda) from the base of the Romualdo Formation (Albian), Araripe Basin, Northeast Brazil. Scientific Reports 10(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67822-9

    Described new theropod Aratasaurus, recovering Zuolong as its sister taxon.

    sayão2020a