Xianshanosaurus
"Xianshan lizard"
- Lived
- 121 to 101 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods, Euhelopodidae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Lü et al. 2009
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
110 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in a basin in central China, among large plant eaters such as Ruyangosaurus and Yunmenglong and the small theropod Luoyanggia.
Field notes
About Xianshanosaurus
What it was like
Xianshanosaurus was a long-necked, four-legged plant eater, known from backbones and limb bones.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now central China. Its bones come from the Haoling Formation, where it shared the land with the giant Ruyangosaurus and the armored Gobisaurus.
How it was found
Lü and colleagues named Xianshanosaurus in 2009, from a single find.
Field gallery
More views of Xianshanosaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 2
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Xianshanosaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Xianshanosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton preserves tail bones, ribs, a shoulder bone and a thigh bone.
- The tail bones have ball-and-socket joints, with a hollow front and a rounded back.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing neck and much of the body are restored by comparison with sauropods such as Daxiatitan.
Still unknown
- The shape of its skull and the length of its neck.
- Its adult size.
- Its skin color and pattern.
Discovery timeline
- 2009Named itLü et al.
- 2013Same rocksLü et al.
- 2019Family treeMannion et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Xianshanosaurus
Named it
Named Xianshanosaurus from a partial skeleton and described a fauna dominated by giant sauropods.
A preliminary report on the new dinosaurian fauna from the Cretaceous of the Ruyang Basin, Henan Province of central China. Journal of the Paleontological Society of Korea 25: 43-56
No link available
Same rocks
Described Yunmenglong, another long-necked plant eater from the same formation as Xianshanosaurus.
A new sauropod dinosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the late Early Cretaceous of the Ruyang Basin (central China). Cretaceous Research 44: 202-213
Read the paper : A new sauropod dinosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the late Early Cretaceous of the Ruyang Basin (central China) (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Placed Xianshanosaurus among titanosaurs, with Daxiatitan its closest relative in one analysis.
New information on the Cretaceous sauropod dinosaurs of Zhejiang Province, China: impact on Laurasian titanosauriform phylogeny and biogeography. Royal Society Open Science 6: 191057
Read the paper : New information on the Cretaceous sauropod dinosaurs of Zhejiang Province, China: impact on Laurasian titanosauriform phylogeny and biogeography (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Euhelopodidae
Sources: Wikidata