Kelmayisaurus

Name: Kelmayisaurus.
Phonetic: Kel-may-e-sore-us.
Named By: Z.‭ ‬Dong‭ ‬-‭ ‬1973.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Carcharodontosauridae.
Species: K.‭ ‬petrolicus‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain.
Known locations: China,‭ ‬Xinjiang‭ ‬-‭ ‬Lianmugin Formation.
Time period: Late Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial left maxilla and partial left mandible‭ (‬lower jaw‭)‬.




       Kelmayisaurus is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous.‭ ‬Kelmayisaurus is currently only known by partial upper and lower jaws,‭ ‬and because of this the exact size of Kelmayisaurus is still unknown.‭ ‬There are still reports of a second species named K.‭ “‬grandis‭” ‬approaching sizes of up to twenty-two meters long,‭ ‬something that if true would make Kelmayisaurus the largest theropod dinosaur ever.‭ ‬The reality of the matter however is that this claim appeared in a children‭’‬s book and that K.‭ “‬grandis‭” ‬was based upon a single vertebra that modern palaeontologists are certain belongs to a sauropod dinosaur,‭ ‬and not a theropod.‭ ‬This means that K.‭ “‬grandis‭” ‬does not exist,‭ ‬and there is no evidence at all that Kelmayisaurus grew to twenty-two meters in length.
       The only valid species of Kelmayisaurus is the type species K.‭ ‬petrolicus,‭ ‬and as mentioned above the size of this species is indeterminate at the time of writing.‭ ‬The holotype fossils of Kelmayisaurus however have been noted as being similar to the genus Eocarcharia.

Further reading
-‭ [‬Dinosaurs from Wuerho‭]‬.‭ ‬Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang‭ (‬II‭)‬:‭ ‬Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho,‭ ‬Sinkiang.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology,‭ ‬Academia Sinica‭ ‬11:45-52.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Z.‭ ‬Dong‭ ‬-‭ ‬1973.
-‭ ‬A reassessment of Kelmayisaurus petrolicus,‭ ‬a large theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Stephen L.‭ ‬Brusatte,‭ ‬Roger B.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Benson‭ & ‬Xing Xu‭ ‬-‭ ‬2011.



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