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A New Eusauropod Dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Guangxi Province, Southern China
Author(s) -
Jinyou MO,
Xing XU,
BUFFETAUT Eric
Publication year - 2010
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.1755-6724.2010.00331.x
Subject(s) - cretaceous , paleontology , geology , sauropoda , lamina , dorsum , anatomy , taxon , spine (molecular biology) , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
A new sauropod dinosaur, Liubangosaurus hei gen. et sp. nov., is erected based on a specimen represented by five articulated middle‐caudal dorsal vertebrae, which was discovered in the Lower Cretaceous Napai Formation of Guangxi Province, southern China. This new taxon is diagnosed by a unique combination of derived features: prezygapophysis closely contacts with parapophysis, with the prdl and prpl absent; presence of cavity on the dorsal surface of the diapophysis; neural spine very low, with its distal end level with that of diapophysis; distal end of the neural spine strongly expanded laterally to form a platform; marked fossa formed between the infradiapophyseal lamina and the parapophysis; broad, flat area of featureless bone on lateral surface of neural arch; vertically directed infradiapophyseal lamina expands or bifurcates ventrally to form a inverted “Y”; highly positioned parapophyses large and tear‐drop in shape. The discovery of this new taxon increases the diversity of sauropods in China during the Early Cretaceous.