Klamelisaurus
| Klamelisaurus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, 174–163 Ma | |
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| Skeleton cast | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Eusauropoda |
| Genus: | †Klamelisaurus Zhao, 1993 |
| Species | |
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Klamelisaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. It was similar to Bellusaurus, of which it may actually be an adult specimen and thus a junior synonym. It was found in the Gobi desert of Asia.
In 1982 at Kelamaili, north of Jiangjunmiao in the Junggar Basin of Xinjiang province, the remains were discovered of a sauropod.
The type species Klamelisaurus gobiensis was named and described by Zhao Xijin in 1993. The generic name refers to Kelamaili, of which "Klameli" is a spelling variant. The specific name refers to the Gobi.[1]
The holotype, IVPP V9492, was found in a layer of the Shishugou Formation dating from the Oxfordian, about 160 million years old. It consists of a partial skeleton lacking the skull. The postcranial skeleton is rather complete, missing only the front part of the neck, the left shoulder girdle, the left forelimb and the feet.[1] The quality of the bones was poor and deteriorated during preparation.
Klamelisaurus was a medium-sized sauropod. In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at fifteen metres, its weight at five tonnes, at the same time presuming it represented the adult form of Bellusaurus.[2]
Zhao in 1993 established a single explicit autapomorphy: the upper end of the ulna is expanded.[1]
In 1993 Klamelisaurus was assigned to the Bothrosauropodea. Zhao named a new subfamily, Klamelisaurinae, to include Klamelisaurus was the only member.[1] It was considered of uncertain classification by Upchurch et al. (2004), possibly being a non-neosauropod eusauropod.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 Zhao Xijing (1993). "A new Mid-Jurassic sauropod (Klamelisaurus gobiensis gen. et sp. nov.) from Xinjiang, China" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 31 (2): 132–138.
- ↑ Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 178
- ↑ P. Upchurch, P. M. Barrett, and P. Dodson. 2004. Sauropoda. In D. B. Weishampel, H. Osmolska, and P. Dodson (eds.), The Dinosauria (2nd edition). University of California Press, Berkeley 259-322