Sinankylosaurus (meaning "Chinese fused lizard") is a genus of dinosaur, originally described as an ankylosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Hongtuya Formation of Shandong, China. The genus contains a single species, Sinankylosaurus zhuchengensis, known from a nearly complete right ilium. The describers claim that the discovery of Sinankylosaurus further demonstrates the similarity between dinosaurs of eastern Asia and western North America.[1]
| Sinankylosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Genus: | †Sinankylosaurus Wang et al., 2020 |
| Species: | †S. zhuchengensis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Sinankylosaurus zhuchengensis Wang et al., 2020
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Discovery and naming edit
Beginning in 1964, paleontologists conducted large-scale excavations in Zhucheng and discovered an abundant source of fossils; notably dinosaur fossils.[2]
ZJZ-183, the holotype specimen, was discovered with the Zhuchengtyrannus holotype in the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group (specifically the Hongtuya Formation[1]) in Zhucheng, Shandong Province, China around 2010.[3] The fossil was prepared during the following years and was later described in 2020.[1]
Description edit
Because it is only known from an ilium, the external appearance of Sinankylosaurus remains unknown. Its describers noted similarities with other ankylosaur ilia, but a 2021 study did not consider it an ankylosaur and called it a nomen dubium.[4]
Paleoecology edit
Sinankylosaurus is known from the Hongtuya Formation, part of the Wangshi Group of southern China. Other animals from this group include Sinoceratops, a ceratopsian,[5] Shantungosaurus, a very common hadrosaurid to which most of the material has been assigned,[6] Zhuchengtyrannus, an Asian tyrannosaurid related to Tarbosaurus,[7] Zhuchengceratops, an Asian leptoceratopsid,[8] and material tentatively assigned to Tyrannosaurus.
References edit
- ^ a b c Wang, K. B.; Zhang, Y. X.; Chen, J.; Chen, S. Q.; Wang, P. Y. (2020). "A new ankylosaurian from the Late Cretaceous strata of Zhucheng, Shandong Province". Geological Bulletin of China (in Chinese). 39 (7): 958–962.
- ^ Wangshi Group in the Paleobiology Database
- ^ "Shandong discovers new dinosaur with spikes!". yqqlm. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.[dead link]
- ^ Wenjie Zheng; Masateru Shibata; Chun-Chi Lao; Soki Hattori; Dongchun Jin; Changzhu Jin; Xing Xu (2021). "First definitive ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Jilin Province, northeastern China". Cretaceous Research. 127 (104953): 104953. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104953.
- ^ Xu, X., Wang, K., Zhao, X. & Li, D. (2010). "First ceratopsid dinosaur from China and its biogeographical implications". Chinese Science Bulletin. 55 (16): 1631–1635. Bibcode:2010ChSBu..55.1631X. doi:10.1007/s11434-009-3614-5. S2CID 128972108.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Hu, C.C. (1973). "[A new hadrosaur from the Cretaceous of Chucheng, Shantung]". Acta Geologica Sinica. 2: 179–206.
- ^ Hone, D. W. E.; Wang, K.; Sullivan, C.; Zhao, X.; Chen, S.; Li, D.; Ji, S.; Ji, Q.; Xu, X. (2011). "A new, large tyrannosaurine theropod from the Upper Cretaceous of China". Cretaceous Research. 32 (4): 495–503. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2011.03.005.
- ^ Xing Xu; Kebai Wang; Xijin Zhao; Corwin Sullivan; Shuqing Chen (2010). "A New Leptoceratopsid (Ornithischia: Ceratopsia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Shandong, China and Its Implications for Neoceratopsian Evolution". PLOS ONE. 5 (11): e13835. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...513835X. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013835. PMC 2973951. PMID 21079798.
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