Gasosaurus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gasosaurus

Extinct (fossil)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Infraorder:	?Carnosauria
Genus:	Gasosaurus
Species:	G. constructus

Binomial name

Gasosaurus constructus
Dong and Tang, 1985

Gasosaurus (Chinese: 气龙属) was a tetanuran dinosaur discovered in Dashanpu, China. The scientific name, meaning "Gas Lizard", honours the gasoline company that found the Dashanpu fossil quarry in Sichuan Province, now named as the Lower Shaximiao Formation. It had strong legs but short arms, and powerful jaws indicate that it was a carnivore. It measured between 3.5 and 4 metres in length and 1.3m in height, with a weight of around 150kg, placing it in the midrange of carnivores by size. However, some estimates put its weight as high as 400kg, as very little is known about this dinosaur. It lived during Bathonian and Callovian periods (mid-late Jurassic), around 164 million years ago. By analogy with other tetanurans, it probably hunted in packs.

[edit] Discovery and species

The first and to date only fossils, albeit postcranial (missing the skull), were recovered in 1985 during the construction of a gas facility. This explains the unusual name, which literally means gas lizard. These fossils were defined as the type species Gasosaurus constructus by the paleontologists Dong Zhiming and Tang Zilu. There have still been very few fossils retrieved, so exact details are unknown. Specifically, no skull has been found. Some paleobotanists have speculated that Gasosaurus and Kaijiangosaurus may be one and the same species. A relation to Megalosaurus has also been suggested. Also, although current consensus is to place Gasosaurus in the group Carnosauria, it may in fact be the most basal Coelurosaurian yet known, or may even be a common ancestor of the two groups.