Daliansaurus

Name: Daliansaurus ‭(‬Dalian lizard‭)‬.
Phonetic: Dah-le-an-sor-us.
Named By: C.-Z.‭ ‬Shen,‭ ‬J.-C.‭ ‬Lu,‭ ‬S.-H.‭ ‬Liu,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Kundrat,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Brusatte‭ & ‬H.-L.‭ ‬Gao‭ ‬-‭ ‬2017.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Troodontidae,‭ ‬Sinovenatorinae.
Species: D.‭ ‬liaoningensis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: About‭ ‬1‭ ‬meter long.
Known locations: China,‭ ‬Liaoning Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬Yixian Formation.
Time period: Early Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partially preserved skeleton.




       Daliansaurus is a genus of small troodontid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous.‭ ‬Many trrodontid dinosaurs are known to‭ ‬have been living in the same approximate time and location as Daliansaurus,‭ ‬but the describing paleontologists identified several features that differentiate this genus from others.‭ ‬Some of the clearer differences are that the humerus‭ (‬upper arm bone‭) ‬is longer than most other troodontid genera in the regions,‭ ‬and the teeth have a‭ ‘‬D‭’ ‬shape to them instead of being recurved‭ (‬curving so the tips point back slightly towards‭ ‬the back of the mouth‭)‬.‭ ‬Most telling of all perhaps is the presence of an enlarged claw on the fourth toe of the foot,‭ ‬in addition to the large sickle shaped claw on the second toe.
       Daliansaurus is among several troodontid dinosaurs known from the Yixian Fomration.‭ ‬These include Sinovenator,‭ ‬Mei and Sinusonasus,‭ ‬which may have been closely related to Daliansaurus,‭ ‬as well as Jianianhualong and Liaoningvenator.




Further reading
-‭ ‬A new troodontid dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province,‭ ‬China.‭ ‬Acta Geologica Sinica‭ ‬91‭(‬3‭)‬:763-780.‭ ‬-‭ ‬C.-Z.‭ ‬Shen,‭ ‬J.-C.‭ ‬Lu,‭ ‬S.-H.‭ ‬Liu,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Kundrat,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Brusatte‭ & ‬H.-L.‭ ‬Gao‭ ‬-‭ ‬2017.
- Forearm bone histology of the small theropod Daliansaurus liaoningensis (Paraves: Troodontidae) from the Yixian Formation, Liaoning, China. - Historical Biology. 31 (2): 253–261. - Caizhi Shen, Junchang Lü, Chunling Gao, Masato Hoshino, Kentaro Uesugi & Martin Kundrát - 2018.



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