[D] Jintasaurus meniscus [Su] [sG] [T]
Describer
You & Li 2009
Time
Cretaceous Early. ?Albian
Classification
Ornithischia Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
Xinminpu Group , Yujingzy Basin, Jinta County, Jiuqaun area, Gansu Province, China
Info
Jintasaurus meniscus gen. et sp. nov., a new hadrosauriform dinosauris reported from the Lower Cretaceous Xinminpu Group of the Yujingzi Basin, Jiuquan area, Gansu Province, northwestern China. It is represented by an articulated posterior portion of the skull and is unique in having an extremely long, pendant and crescentic paroccipital process with its ventral tip projecting far beyond the ventral level of the occipital condyle. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Jintasaurus as the sister-taxon to Hadrosauroidea, more derived than other Early Cretaceous hadrosauriforms and Protohadros from the early Late Cretaceous of North America. This discovery adds one more close relative to Hadrosauroidea in Asia and supports an Asian origin for this group.
Holotype
FRDC: GJ 06-2-52, an articulated posterior portion of the skull, including elements of the skull roof (the postorbitals, squamosals, frontals, and fused parietals) and an almost complete braincase.
Etymology
\\\\\\\"Jin-ta\\\\\\\" means \\\\\\\"Golden temple\\\\\\\" in Chinese and is the name of the county where the fossil was discovered. \\\\\\\"Saurus\\\\\\\" means \\\\\\\"lizard\\\\\\\" in Greek. \\\\\\\'Meniscus\\\\\\\" means \\\\\\\"cresent\\\\\\\' in latin and refers to the cresentic paroccipital process and occipital condyle of the specimen.
Locality and horizon
Yujingzy Basin, Jinta County, Jiuqaun area, Gansu Province, China, Xinminpu Group
Diagnosis
A basal hadrosauriform dinosaur distinguished by extremely long pendant and crescentic paroccipital processes witj ventral tips projecting far beyond the ventral level of the occipital condyle. Jintasaurus is more derived than Protohadros and other basal hadrosauriforms in having a relatively long squamosal process of the postorbital and less derived than Hadrosauroidae in lacking both a steeply forwardly inclined posterior surface of the supraoccipital and an anteriorly curved paroccipital process
You, H-L. & Li, D-Q. (2009) A new basal hadrosauriform dinosaur (Ornithischia: Iguanodontia) from the Early Cretaceous of northwestern China Can. J. Earth Sci. 46(12): 949–957
You & Li 2009
Time
Cretaceous Early. ?Albian
Classification
Ornithischia Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
Xinminpu Group , Yujingzy Basin, Jinta County, Jiuqaun area, Gansu Province, China
Info
Jintasaurus meniscus gen. et sp. nov., a new hadrosauriform dinosauris reported from the Lower Cretaceous Xinminpu Group of the Yujingzi Basin, Jiuquan area, Gansu Province, northwestern China. It is represented by an articulated posterior portion of the skull and is unique in having an extremely long, pendant and crescentic paroccipital process with its ventral tip projecting far beyond the ventral level of the occipital condyle. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Jintasaurus as the sister-taxon to Hadrosauroidea, more derived than other Early Cretaceous hadrosauriforms and Protohadros from the early Late Cretaceous of North America. This discovery adds one more close relative to Hadrosauroidea in Asia and supports an Asian origin for this group.
Holotype
FRDC: GJ 06-2-52, an articulated posterior portion of the skull, including elements of the skull roof (the postorbitals, squamosals, frontals, and fused parietals) and an almost complete braincase.
Etymology
\\\\\\\"Jin-ta\\\\\\\" means \\\\\\\"Golden temple\\\\\\\" in Chinese and is the name of the county where the fossil was discovered. \\\\\\\"Saurus\\\\\\\" means \\\\\\\"lizard\\\\\\\" in Greek. \\\\\\\'Meniscus\\\\\\\" means \\\\\\\"cresent\\\\\\\' in latin and refers to the cresentic paroccipital process and occipital condyle of the specimen.
Locality and horizon
Yujingzy Basin, Jinta County, Jiuqaun area, Gansu Province, China, Xinminpu Group
Diagnosis
A basal hadrosauriform dinosaur distinguished by extremely long pendant and crescentic paroccipital processes witj ventral tips projecting far beyond the ventral level of the occipital condyle. Jintasaurus is more derived than Protohadros and other basal hadrosauriforms in having a relatively long squamosal process of the postorbital and less derived than Hadrosauroidae in lacking both a steeply forwardly inclined posterior surface of the supraoccipital and an anteriorly curved paroccipital process
You, H-L. & Li, D-Q. (2009) A new basal hadrosauriform dinosaur (Ornithischia: Iguanodontia) from the Early Cretaceous of northwestern China Can. J. Earth Sci. 46(12): 949–957