Yueosaurus

Yueosaurus Temporal range: Cretaceous, Aptian–Cenomanian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	†Ornithischia
Clade:	†Cerapoda
Clade:	†Ornithopoda
Genus:	†Yueosaurus Zheng et al., 2012
Species:	† Y. tiantaiensis
Binomial name
Yueosaurus tiantaiensis Zheng et al., 2012

Yueosaurus is an extinct genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur known from Zhejiang Province, China.^[1]

Description

Yueosaurus is known only from the holotype ZMNH M8620, an articulated, partial but well preserved postcranial skeleton which includes cervical, dorsal (back) and caudal vertebrae, scapula, rib, hip bones, partial forelimb and partial hindlimb. It was collected in Tiantai locality from the Liangtoutang Formation, dating to the Aptian-Cenomanian stages of the latest Early Cretaceous and the earliest Late Cretaceous. Yueosaurus represents the southernmost basal ornithopod dinosaur from Asia, and the first one from China. It differs from other ornithischians by a combination of characters.^[1] Han et al. found it plausible that Yueosaurus might be a member of Jeholosauridae or closely related to it.^[2]

Etymology

Yueosaurus was first named by Wenjie Zheng, Xingsheng Jin, Masateru Shibata, Yoichi Azuma and Fangming Yu in 2012 and the type species is Yueosaurus tiantaiensis. The specific name refers to the Tiantai, where the holotype was discovered.^[1]

References