Equijubus
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| Equijubus Fossil range: Early Cretaceous |
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| Equijubus normani You, et al. 2003 |
Equijubus, meaning "horse mane" after the area in which it was found, is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian stage) of northwestern China. The type (and only known) specimen was found in the Mazong (= "horse mane") Shan area of China's Gansu Province.
The type species, Equijubus normani, was described by You, Luo, Shubin, Witmer, Tang, and Tang in 2003 as a primitive hadrosaur ("duck-billed" dinosaur), although it may turn out to be a non-hadrosauroid iguanodont. The discoverers consider it to be the earliest and most primitive of the hadrosaurs, and suggest that this group emerged in Asia. The species epithet ("normani") is in honour of British palaeontologist David B. Norman.
[edit] Fossils
The type specimen, IVPP V12534, consists of a complete skull with articulated (attached) lower jaw, plus associated incomplete postcrania including 9 cervical (neck), 16 dorsal (back), and 6 sacral (pelvic) vertebrae. It was found in fluvio-lacustrine sediments of the Middle Grey Unit of the Xinminbao Group, Gonpoquan Basin, Mazong Shan, Gansu Province, China.
[edit] References
- The earliest-known duck-billed dinosaur from deposits of late Early Cretacous age in northwest China and hadrosaurid evolution. You, et al. Cretaceous Research 24; 347-353 (2003).
- http://www.sinofossa.org/sinosaur/equijubus.htm
