Siluosaurus
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| Siluosaurus Fossil range: Early Cretaceous |
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Siluosaurus (meaning "Silu (Chinese for Silk Road, referring to the discovery location) lizard") is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Barremian-Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Xinminbao Group of Gansu, China. It is based on IVPP V.11117 (1-2), two teeth. It is an obscure genus, with no papers doing more than mentioning it since it was described.
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[edit] History
The teeth that would be named Siluosaurus were recovered during the 1992 Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition. One tooth was from the upper beak (premaxilla), and the other was from the cheek region of the upper jaw (maxilla). Dong Zhiming, who named the genus, suggested that it was a hypsilophodontid, and described the teeth as the smallest ornithopod teeth yet known.[1] It was regarded without comment as a dubious name in the most recent review of basal ornithopods,[2] a not-uncommon fate for dinosaur names based on teeth.
[edit] Paleobiology
As a hypsilophodontid or other basal ornithopod, Siluosaurus would have been a bipedal herbivore. Its size has not been estimated, but as most adult hypsilophodonts were 1-2 meters long (3.3-6.6 ft),[2] this genus would have been of similar to smaller size, based on Dong's comments.
[edit] References
- ^ Zhiming, Dong (1997). "A small ornithopod from Mazongshan area, Gansu Province, China", in Dong Zhiming (ed.): Sino-Japanese Silk Road Dinosaur Expedition. Beijing: China Ocean Press, 24-26. ISBN 7-5027-4298-0.
- ^ a b Norman, David B.; Sues, Hans-Dieter; Witmer, Larry M.; and Coria, Rodolfo A. (2004). "Basal Ornithopoda", in Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press, 393-412. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
[edit] External links
- Siluosaurus in The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia at Dino Russ's Lair
- Siluosaurus at Thescelosaurus!, under Ornithopoda i.s.
