| Huashanosaurus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Eusauropoda |
| Genus: | †Huashanosaurus Mo et al.,2025 |
| Species: | †H. qini |
| Binomial name | |
| †Huashanosaurus qini Mo et al., 2025 | |
| External image | |
|---|---|
 Reconstructed skeleton, illustrating the fragmentary preserved material (dark grey). |
Huashanosaurus (meaning "Huashan Mountain lizard") is anextinct genus ofeusauropod sauropod dinosaurs known from theEarly–Middle JurassicWangmen Formation of China. The genus contains asingle species,Huashanosaurus qini, known from a fragmentary partial skeleton.
The fossil material referred toHuashanosaurus was found in outcrops of the Wangmen Formation in the Huqiu Quarry near Dongshi Village inGuangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China. Fragmentary and disarticulated fossil material was first found in this area in 2002 by Jian Qin, a local teacher, while searching for stones near the river. Subsequent excavations were conducted in 2017 by the Natural History Museum of Guangxi (NHMG) and the Cultural Relics Administration of Ningming County (CRAN), during which fish scales and teeth,plesiosaur teeth, and additional fragmentary dinosaur remains were collected. While the specimens collected in 2002 and 2017 are accessioned as separate specimens in different institutions—theholotype, NHMG 034093, andparatype, CRAN 0001—they likely belong to the same individual based on their similar size and form. The holotype comprises one dorsal vertebralcentrum, a partial dorsalrib, the end of a lefthumerus and top part of a leftulna, a manualphalanx (finger bone), part of the leftilium, the end of afemur andfibula, and part of a fifthmetatarsal and pedalungual (foot claw). The paratype includes threeanterior (toward the front)caudal vertebrae and aneural spine, a middle caudal vertebra, and a pedal phalanx.[1]
In 2025, Mo and colleaguesdescribedHuashanosaurus qini as a new genus and species of eusauropod dinosaurs based on these fossil remains. Thegeneric name,Huashanosaurus, combines a reference toHuashan Mountain, aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site known for theZuojiang Huashan Rock Art, with theAncient Greekσαῦρος (sauros), meaning "lizard". Thespecific name,qini, honors Jian Qin, the discoverer of the specimen.[1]
Huashanosaurus is the second eusauropod to be named from the Guangxi region, after themamenchisauridJingiella, known from theDongxing Formation, in 2024.[1][2]
To test the relationships and affinities ofHuashanosaurus, Mo and colleagues (2025) scored it in thephylogenetic dataset of Carballido et al. (2017),[3] incorporating several subsequent revisions by Tan et al. (2019),[4] Tan et al. (2020),[5] and Ma et al. (2021).[6] This analysis recoveredHuashanosaurus in an early-diverging position within the Eusauropoda, diverging afterShunosaurus andPatagosaurus, in an unresolvedpolytomy withMamenchisaurus and two species ofOmeisaurus (O. puxiani andO. tianfuensis). The earlier iterations of this analysis recoveredMamenchisaurus andOmeisaurus spp. in amonophyletic clade.[6] An abbreviated version of these results is displayed in thecladogram below:[1]
The Wangmen Formation has historically been recognized as dating to the earliestEarly Jurassic;[7] the formation has yielded fossils of the plantOtozamites, as well as fossil spores (Lycopodiumsporites) and conifer pollen (Classopollis). These have been interpreted as indicative of an Early Jurassic age for the formation.[8] However, in their description ofHuashanosaurus, Mo and colleagues speculated that this formation ranged into the Middle Jurassic, as this is when eusauropods are known to have diversified.[1]
