Heishanosaurus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Heishanosaurus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Choristodera |
| Genus: | †Heishanosaurus Dong et al., 2020 |
| Type species | |
| †Heishanosaurus pygmaeus Dong et al., 2020 | |
Heishanosaurus is an extinct genus of choristodere reptile from the Early Cretaceous of China. The type and currently only known species is Heishanosaurus pygmaeus. It is unusual as it is much more primitive than other known choristoderes from the Early Cretaceous of Asia, and retains many plesiomorphic characters.
The type specimens are represented by the blocks IVPP V25322, 25323 and 25324, were discovered in September 2003 at the Badaohao locality, in Heishan County, Liaoning Province, China, in sediments belonging to the Shahai Formation. The Shahai Formation is generally thought to overlie the Jiufotang Formation and has an uncertain Aptian-Albian age, based on the radiometric dating of the Jiufotang Formation. The remains are disarticulated inside the blocks, and were scanned using microcomputed tomography.[1]
