Sinocoelurus

Taxobox
name = "Sinocoelurus"
fossil_range = Upper Jurassic
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
familia = unknown
genus = "Sinocoelurus"
genus_authority= Yang, 1942
subdivision_ranks=Species
subdivision=
*"S. fragilis" Yang, 1942 (type)

"Sinocoelurus" (meaning "Chinese hollow tail", in reference to location and to relate the new genus to the North American "Coelurus") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the ?Tithonian-age Upper Jurassic Kyangyan Series of Sichuan, China. It is an obscure tooth taxon.

History

Famous Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian (in older references his name is given as C. C. Young) named this genus from IVP AS V232-234, a group of four isolated partial teeth found near Weiyuan, Guangyuan, Sichuan Basin. He described them as "long, slender, moderately curved and compressed; ridged anterior and posterior sides with no trace of serrations; enamel very thin".cite book|title=Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia|year=1997|chapter="Sinocoelurus"|author=Glut, D.F.|pages=825|publisher=McFarland & Company|id=ISBN 0-89950-917-7] He considered the genus to be "coelurosaurian", which at that time meant a small theropod. The most distinctive characteristic of these teeth was their lack of serrations.Yang Zhongjian. (1942). Fossil vertebrates from Kuangyuan, N. Szechuan, China. "Bulletin of the Geological Society of China" 22(3-4):293-309.]

Because of the small amount of material, "Sinocoelurus" has attracted little attention since its description, outside of reviews. It is usually considered a dubious name of either coelurosauriancoelurid affinities (if the source predates the acceptance of Coelurosauria as a wastebasket taxon as traditionally used), or uncertain theropod affinities (if published after this). The most recent review classifies it as Tetanurae "incertae sedis" and dubious.cite book|title=The Dinosauria (second edition)|year=2004|chapter=Basal Tetanurae|author=Holtz, Jr., T.R., Molnar, R.E, and Currie, P.J.|pages=71-110|publisher=University of California Press|id=ISBN 0-520-24209-2]

Paleobiology

As a small theropod, "Sinocoelurus" would have been an agile, bipedal carnivore.

Miscellany

Due to romanization variations, the location may be given as Kuangyuan, Szechuan Basin.

The unserrated teeth have led at least one Internet source to compare the genus to spinosaurids. As this was [http://dml.cmnh.org/1999Jan/msg00382.html self-acknowledged unfounded speculation] , the originator [http://www.users.qwest.net/~jstweet1/theropoda.htm retracted it] .

References