Aorun
Name: Aorun
(named after the Dragon King of the West Sea).
Phonetic: Aw-roon.
Named By: J. N. Choiniere, J. M. Clark,
C. M. Forster, M. A. Norell, D. A. Eberth, G. M.
Erickson, H. Chu & X. Xu - 2013.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Coelurosauria.
Species: A. zhaoi (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: About 1 meter long for the holotype
specimen, but this is of a juvenile, adults would have been larger.
Known locations: China, Xinjiang - Shishugou
Formation, Wucaiwan Member.
Time period: Late Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Holotype ( IVPP V15709)
represented by a skull, mandibles (lower jaws) and partial post
cranial remains including vertebrae, hind legs and partial left fore
limb. Holotype specimen is that of a juvenile.
Aorun
was a genus of coelurosaurian theropod that lived in China during the
late Jurassic period. The holotype remains of are those of an
individual which means that adults would have been a bit bigger and a
little different, though the holotype remains of this genus are still
enough to identify a new dinosaur. The teeth of Aorun
are noted as
being finely serrated or not at all, though it is recognised that
this may be because the holotype specimen is that of a juvenile.
Additionally, Aorun has only twelve teeth in the
maxilla (while
the premaxilla has an additional four), while adult forms of other
coelurosaurs are known to have fifteen or more.
Aorun
is known from the Shishugou Formation of China, the study of which
can give us a clue to what other dinosaurs Aorun
came into contact
with. For a start, Aorun was not the only
coelurosaur, Zuolong
was also present. In addition to this other theropods such as
Sinraptor,
Monolophosaurus
and even the basal tyrannosauroid
Guanlong
were also present. Aorun may have also come into
contact with
sauropods
such as Mamenchisaurus
and Bellusaurus as
well as very
primitive ceratopsians
such as Yinlong
and stegosaurs
such as
Jiangjunosaurus. Over the heads of these
dinosaurs, pterosaurs
such
as Sericipterus
would have flown.
Further reading
- A juvenile specimen of a new coelurosaur (Dinosauria:
Theropoda) from the Middle–Late Jurassic Shishugou Formation of
Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China, J. N. Choiniere, J.
M. Clark, C. M. Forster, M. A. Norell, D. A.
Eberth, G. M. Erickson, H. Chu & X. Xu -
2013.
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