| Yimenosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reconstructed skeleton in Yuxi Museum | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Plateosauria |
| Family: | †Plateosauridae |
| Genus: | †Yimenosaurus Baiet al., 1990 |
| Species: | †Y. youngi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Yimenosaurus youngi Baiet al., 1990 | |
Yimenosaurus (meaning "Yiman reptile") is anextinctgenus ofplateosauridsauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in China in theEarly Jurassic. The genus was first named in 1990 by Ziqi Bai, Jie Yang and Guohui Wang, along with itstype and only species,Yimenosaurus youngi. The species name honours renowned ChinesepaleontologistYang Zhongjian, the father of Chinese paleontology, known as C.C. Young in English. Known material includes theholotype, an almost completeskull andmandible, as well as incomplete cervical and dorsalvertebrae, a mostly completesacrum, anilium,ischia, partial ribs and completefemur, and aparatype, a well-preserved postcrania with a fragmentary skull. In 2010Paul estimated its length at 9 metres (30 ft) and its weight at 2 tonnes (2.2 short tons).[1]
Known from two specimens,Yimenosaurus is relatively complete for its type ofsauropodomorph. The specimens were described originally in1990 byZiqi Bai,Jie Yang andGuohui Wang, and the describers named for them a completebinomial,Yimenosaurus youngi. Baiet al. created the genus name fromYimen county, the place of discovery inYunnan Province, and theLatin wordsaurus, meaning "reptile". For the species, it was chosen to honourYang Zhongjian, the father and founder of all Chinesepaleontology, who was well known for his work on "prosauropods", and called in English C.C. Young. Of the two specimens, theholotype was chosen, known from a more completeskull. The holotype,YXV 8701, is known from a complete skull andmandible only lacking theanterior end of the jaw and minor fragments of bone around the orbit, as well as the postcranial elements of fragmentary cervical and dorsalvertebrae, allsacral vertebrae, anilium, bothischia, a completefemur, and incomplete and damaged ribs. YXV8702, theparatype, is known from an only incomplete skull, many cervical and dorsal vertebrae, three sacrals, a fewcaudal vertebrae, ascapula-coracoid, an entirepelvis, and almost both entirehindlimbs. All specimens were recovered from theFengjiahe Formation.[2]
