Mandschurosaurus

Mandschurosaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Ornithischia
Suborder: Ornithopoda
Family: Hadrosauridae
Genus: Mandschurosaurus
Riabinin, 1930
Type species
Mandschurosaurus amurensis
Riabinin, 1925
Species
  • M. amurensis (Riabinin, 1925 [originally Trachodon])
  • ?M. laosensis Hoffett, 1943

Mandschurosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurs based on material from the Upper Cretaceous of Belye Kruchi, Manchuria. M. amurensis is based on a poorly preserved and incomplete skeleton collected by Russian scientists in 1914 from the banks of the Amur River. It was the first dinosaur genus named from China, and a mounted skeleton is on display at the Central Geological and Prospecting Museum in St. Petersburg. However, much of the skeleton is plaster. Regardless, the remains represent a large hadrosaurid. There has been some debate regarding the validity of this genus. Brett-Surman (1979) first considered it a nomen dubium, though some later workers have continued to see it as a valid taxon (Chapman et Brett Surman, 1990, for example). Most recently, Horner et al. (2004) listed the type species as a nomen dubium. The holotype material was initially referred to the genus "Trachodon" (also a nomen dubium), but later reassigned to a new genus by Riabinin (1930).

Over the years, three species have been placed within this genus: Mandschurosaurus amurensis, M. mongoliensis, and M. laosensis. Brett-Surman (1979) considered M. mongoliensis a distinct genus, which he named Gilmoreosaurus. Horner et al. (2004) considered M. laosensis a nomen dubium. This leaves only Riabinin's original species, M. amurensis, as a possibly valid taxon.

See also

References

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