Bellusaurus
Name:
Bellusaurus
(Beautiful lizard).
Phonetic: Bel-lu-sore-us.
Named By: Z. Dong - 1990.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Sauropodomorpha, Sauropoda, Mamenchisauridae.
Species: B. sui (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Around 4.8 to 5 meters long for the
remains found, though older individuals would have likely been larger.
Known locations: China - Shishougou Formation.
Time period: Callovian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: At least 17 individuals
represented by partial remains, probably of juveniles.
The
creation of the Bellusaurus was born out of the
discovery of a bonebed
of at least seventeen individuals. Features on some of these fossil
such as the lack of fusion on some parts means that these individuals
are probably juveniles and therefore not fully grown. It has also led
to speculation that Bellusaurus may actually be the
juvenile form of
the previously named but not yet well understood genus.
Other
sauropods
known from the same formation as Bellusaurus
include
Mamenchisaurus,
Klamelisaurus and Tienshanosaurus.
Predatory
threats to Bellusaurus include Monolophosaurus,
the tyrannosaur
Guanlong
and the allosaurid Sinraptor.
Other creatures that
Bellusaurus may have come into contact with include
the stegosaur
Jiangjunosaurus, the basal ceratopsian
yinlong and the pterosaur
Sericipterus.
Further reading
- Sauropoda from the Kelamaili region of the Junggar Basin,
Xinjiang Autonomous Region - Z. Dong - 1990.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |