| Jiangshanosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skeletal mount | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Sauropoda |
| Clade: | †Macronaria |
| Clade: | †Titanosauriformes |
| Genus: | †Jiangshanosaurus |
| Species: | †J. lixianensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Jiangshanosaurus lixianensis Tanget al., 2001 | |
Jiangshanosaurus is a genus of herbivoroustitanosauriformsauropoddinosaur that lived in China approximately 92-88million years ago,[1] during theTuronian andConiacian stages of theLate Cretaceous.
In 1977 and 1978 a sauropod skeleton was excavated by paleontologists Wei Feng, Wu Weitang and Kang Ximin in theJinhua Formation of Lixian Village,Jiangshan county, in the easternChinese province ofZhejiang.
Thetype and only named species,Jiangshanosaurus lixianensis, was formally described by Tang Feng, Kang, Jin Xingsheng, Wei and Wu in 2001. Theholotype,ZNM M1322, ofJ. lixianensis includes elements of the left shoulder, five back vertebrae, three tail vertebrae, thepubic bones, the ischia, and a left femur.[2] The genus name refers to Jiangshan County; the specific name refers to the village of Lixian.
In 2019, Philip Mannion e.a. redescribed the holotype.[3]
According to paleontologistThomas R. Holtz Jr. the exact size of this sauropod cannot be determined.[4]Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at eleven meters and its weight at 2500 kg.[5]
In 2019, Mannion e.a. indicated two distinguishing traits. They wereautapomorphies, unique derived characters. In the vertebrae positioned at the transition between the tail base and the middle tail, the lower ends of thelaminae spinoprezygapophyseales, the ridges running from theneural spine towards the front articulation processes, are placed to the inside of these processes, theprezygapophyses, instead of touching them. The lower shaft of the ischium ends in a small process, formed as a hook, on its top outer side.[3]
AlthoughJiangshanosaurus initially defied precise placement withinTitanosauria, in 2017 paper considered it to be outsideLithostrotia.[6]
According to the 2019 study,Jiangshanosaurus was placed in theSomphospondyli in a basal position, outside the Titanosauria.[3]
