| Chilantaisaurus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous, 92 Ma | |
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Chilantaisaurus |
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Chilantaisaurus ("Ch'i-lan-t'ai lizard") was a possible allosauroid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Ulansuhai Formation of China (Turonian stage, about 92 million years ago). The type species, C. tashuikouensis, was described by Hu in 1964.
Classification[]
Hu initially considered Chilantaisaurus to be a carnosaur related to Allosaurus, though subsequent studies suggested that it may be a spinosauroid, possibly a primitive member of the spinosaurid family (Sereno, 1998; Chure, 2002; Rauhut, 2001), or a member of an alternate offshoot of neotetanuran theropods, with some similarities to allosauroids, spinosauroids, and coelurosaurians.[1][2] A 1999 study by Brusatte and colleagues suggested that it might be synonymous with Shaochilong, and thus a carcharodontosaurid.[3]
Several species have been described based on very poor remains. Chilantaisaurus? sibiricus is poorly described, so its relationships cannot be accurately determined (Chure, 2002). "Chilantaisaurus" maortuensis was reclassified as Shaochilong maortuensis in 2009.[3] Bones attributed to "Chilantaisaurus" zheziangensis come from a therizinosaur, and may in fact come from the same individual as the type specimen of Nanshiungosaurus.
References[]
- ^ Hu, S.-Y. (1964). "Carnosaurian remains from Alashan, Inner Mongolia." Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 8: 42–63. [In Chinese, with English summary]
- ^ Benson, R.B.; and Xu, X. (2008). "The anatomy and systematic position of the theropod dinosaur Chilantaisaurus tashuikouensis Hu, 1964 from the Early Cretaceous of Alanshan, People's Republic of China". Geological Magazine published online. doi:.
- ^ a b Brusatte, S., Benson, R., Chure, D., Xu, X., Sullivan, C., and Hone, D. (2009). "The first definitive carcharodontosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Asia and the delayed ascent of tyrannosaurids." Naturwissenschaften, DOI: 10.1007/s00114-009-0565-2
External links[]
- Chilantaisaurus in the Dinosaur Encyclopedia
