Biology:Bellusaurus

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Short description: Extinct species of reptile

Bellusaurus
Temporal range: Oxfordian, 161 Ma
Skull reconstruction
Scientific classification edit
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: Animalia
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: Chordata
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: Dinosauria
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: Saurischia
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: Sauropodomorpha
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: Sauropoda
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: Eusauropoda
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: Bellusaurus
Dong, 1990
Script error: No such module "Taxobox ranks".: <div style="display:inline" class="script error: no such module "taxobox ranks".">†B. sui
Binomial name
Bellusaurus sui
Dong, 1990

Bellusaurus (meaning "Beautiful lizard", from Vulgar Latin bellus 'beautiful' (masculine form) and Ancient Greek sauros 'lizard') was a small short-necked sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian)[1] which measured about 4.8 metres (16 ft) long. Its fossils were found in Shishugou Formation rocks in the northeastern Junggar Basin in China .

Discovery and naming

Restored skeleton

The type and only known species is Bellusaurus sui, formally described by Dong Zhiming in 1991. The remains of Bellusaurus were found in the Shishugou Formation in the northeastern Junggar Basin in China . Seventeen individuals were found in a single quarry, suggesting that a herd had been killed in a flash flood. Some features suggest they may have all been juveniles.[2] Bellusaurus sui was derived from the Latin bellus meaning small, delicate, and beautiful, as these sauropods were small and lightly built. The specific name, sui, was named in honor of Senior Preparator Youling Sui, a notable restorer of dinosaur remains. Bellusaurus was the last restoration undertaken by Mr. Sui.[2]

Fossil record

Bellusaurus sui is known from a large amount of disarticulated material of juvenile individuals.[1][3]

Description

Life restoration
Size compared to a human

The length of Bellusaurus has been estimated to be 4.8 metres (16 ft),[4] although this is based on juvenile individuals.

Classification

Bellusaurus was originally placed in the Brachiosauridae by Dong.[2] More recent phylogenetic analyses have recovered Bellusaurus outside Neosauropoda or near the base of Macronaria.[1] In 2023, a study proposed that Bellusaurus is a mamenchisaurid.[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Moore, Andrew J.; Mo, Jinyou; Clark, James M.; Xu, Xing (2018-06-01). "Cranial anatomy of Bellusaurus sui (Dinosauria: Eusauropoda) from the Middle-Late Jurassic Shishugou Formation of northwest China and a review of sauropod cranial ontogeny" (in en). PeerJ 6: e4881. doi:10.7717/peerj.4881. ISSN 2167-8359. PMID 29868283. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dong, Z. M. (1990). "On remains of the Sauropods from Kelamaili region, Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China". Vertebrata PalAsiatica 28 (1): 43–58. https://paleoglot.org/files/Dong_90.pdf. 
  3. Mo, Jinyou; Xu, Xing (2013). Bellusaurus sui. Topics in Chinese Dinosaur Paleontology. Zhengzhou: Henan Science and Technology Press. ISBN 978-7-5349-6521-0. 
  4. Dong Zhiming (1992). Dinosaurian Faunas of China. China Ocean Press, Beijing. ISBN 3-540-52084-8. 
  5. Moore, Andrew J.; Barrett, Paul M.; Upchurch, Paul; Liao, Chun-Chi; Ye, Yong; Hao, Baoqiao; Xu, Xing (2023-03-15). "Re-assessment of the Late Jurassic eusauropod Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum Russell and Zheng, 1993, and the evolution of exceptionally long necks in mamenchisaurids". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 21 (1). doi:10.1080/14772019.2023.2171818. ISSN 1477-2019. Bibcode2023JSPal..2171818M. 

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