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A Titanosaurian Sauropod Dinosaur with Opisthocoelous Caudal Vertebrae from the Early Late Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, China
Author(s) -
Hailu YOU,
Qiang JI,
LAMANNA Matthew C.,
Jinglu LI,
Yinxian LI
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
acta geologica sinica ‐ english edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1755-6724
pISSN - 1000-9515
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2004.tb00212.x
Subject(s) - sauropoda , cretaceous , paleontology , geology , taxon , vertebra , china , anatomy , biology , geography , archaeology
We describe a new titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur, Borealosaurus wimani gen. et sp. nov., based on a distinctive mid‐distal caudal vertebra from the early Late Cretaceous Sunjiawan Formation exposed in the Shuangmiao village of Beipiao in Liaoning, China. We provisionally refer an isolated tooth crown, a middle caudal vertebra, and a right humerus from the same locality and horizon to this taxon. Borealosaurus is distinguished from other sauropods in its possession of opisthocoelous mid‐distal caudal vertebrae. The occurrence of opisthocoelous caudals in Borealosaurus and the Mongolian sauropod Opisthocoelicaudia raises the possibility that these taxa pertain to an as‐yet unrecognized titanosaurian subclade endemic to the Cretaceous Asia.