Eugongbusaurus

"Eugongbusaurus" is the informal name ("nomen nudum") given to a genus of dinosaur that lived about 160 to 155 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic. It was either a hypsilophodont, or a less-derived ornithischian. Its fossils were found in the Oxfordian-age Shishugou Formation of Xinjiang, China.

History

The "type species", "Eugongbusaurus wucaiwanensis", was described by Dong Zhiming for two partial skeletons as a second species of the poorly known tooth taxon "Gongbusaurus". Fragmentary skeleton IVPP 8302, the type specimen for the new species, included a partial lower jaw, three tail vertebrae, and a partial forelimb. Second specimen IVPP 8303 consisted of two hip vertebrae, eight tail vertebrae, and two complete hind limbs. Dong estimated it as around 1.3 to 1.5 meters long (4.3 to 4.9 ft), and considered it to be a better runner than climber. He assigned the genus "Gongbusaurus" to the Hypsilophodontidae, a nebulous family of small herbivorous bipedal dinosaurs.cite journal |author=Dong Zhiming |authorlink=Dong Zhiming |year=1989 |title=On a small ornithopod ("Gongbusaurus wucaiwanensis" sp. nov.) from Kelamaili, Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China |journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=140–146]

Because dinosaur teeth are generally not distinctive enough to hold a name, it is unsurprising that other paleontologists have suggested removing "G." "wucaiwanensis" from "Gongbusaurus" and giving it its own genus.cite book |last=Norman |first=David B. |authorlink=David B. Norman |coauthors=Sues, Hans-Dieter; Witmer, Larry M.; and Coria, Rodolfo A. |editor=Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.)|title=The Dinosauria |edition=2nd |year= 2004|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |pages=393–412 |chapter=Basal Ornithopoda] The possible replacement name "Eugongbusaurus"cite book |last=Knoll |first=Fabien |year=1999 |chapter=The family Fabrosauridae |editors=Canudo, J.I.; and Cuenca-Bescós, G. (eds.) |title=IV European Workshop on Vertebrate Palaeontology, Albarracin (Teruel, Spain), junio de 1999. Programme and Abstracts, Field guide |publisher=Servicio Publicaciones Universidad de Zaragoza |pages=54] leaked out accidentally and remains informal.

References

External links

* [http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6574&Itemid=67 Original description of "Gongbusaurus" "wucaiwanensis"] at Dinodata
* [http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6474&Itemid=67 "Eugongbusaurus"] at Dinodata