Leshansaurus
Name:
Leshansaurus
(Leshan lizard).
Phonetic: Le-shan-sore-us.
Named By: Li, Peng, Yong, Jiang &
Huang - 2009.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Allosauroidea, Sinraptoridae.
Species: L. qianweiensis
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Femur 62 centimetres long. Tibia 52 centimetres long. Estimated between 6 and 7 meters long.
Known locations: China - Sichuan Province -
Dashanpu/Upper Shaximiao Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial but otherwise very
well preserved individual including skull and post cranial remains. A
femur of a juvenile has also been attributed to the genus.
Leshansaurus
was a mid-sized theropod of the late Jurassic of China with jaws that
were proportionately longer than most other theropods of the time that
also widened slightly. These features might denote a prey
specialisation for Leshansaurus, perhaps somehow
helping it to deal
with the large variety of relatively small stegosaurs of the time such
as Chungkingosaurus,
Gigantspinosaurus
and Chialingosoreus
(e.g.
longer reach for biting over stegosaur plates and spines). However
this is only early speculation.
At
the time of the initial description Leshansaurus
was described as an
allosauroid and possible relative to its contempory Sinraptor.
However a cladistic analysis was not published at this time, and
later observers have suggested that Leshansaurus
might actually be a
megalosauroid theropod.
Further reading
- A new carnosaur from the Late Jurassic of Qianwei, Sichuan, China. -
Acta Geologica Sinica 83(9):1203-1210. - F. Li, G. Peng, Y. Yong, S.
Jiang & D. Huang - 2009.
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