2 Paleontology I - Taphonomy and Global Change
Sunday, 31 October 2010
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Hall F
A COMPLETE SKELETON OF A BASAL SAUROPOD DINOSAUR FROM THE EARLY JURASSIC OF CHINA AND THE ORIGIN OF SAUROPODA
Paper number: 2-1
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 8:15 AM
Authors
-
T. WangDinosaur Museum of Lufeng, Lufeng, N/A
-
S.G. PanDinosaur Museum of Lufeng, Lufeng, N/A
-
Z. DongInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology, Beijing, N/A
-
X.C. WuCanadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, N/A
-
P. UpchurchUniversity College London, London, N/A
Abstract
Sauropods were very successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs in terrestrial ecosystems, but their early evolution is poorly understood because of a highly incomplete fossil record. Characterizing the evolutionary history of early sauropods is central to understanding their rise and diversification in the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Here we report the discovery of a nearly complete and exquisitely preserved skeleton of a basal sauropod from the Lower Lufeng Formation (Early Jurassic) in Yunnan, China that fills a critical gap in the early evolution of sauropod dinosaurs. The new taxon, <i>Yizhousaurus sunae</i> gen. et sp. nov., is the most complete basal sauropod currently known with intact skull; it is an important transitional fossil documenting the evolution of sauropods from prosauropods. The skull of <i>Yizhousaurus</i> is particularly significant because basal sauropods are diagnosed solely on the basis of fragmentary postcranial material. The new material reveals a mosaic of plesiomorphic and derived features that clarify early sauropod evolution, increase our anatomical knowledge of basal sauropods, and shed new light on their patterns of early diversifications.