Protognathosaurus

Name: Protognathosaurus ‭(‬Early jaw lizard‭)‬.
Phonetic: Pro-toe-nay-foe-sore-us.
Named By: George Olshevsky‭ ‬-‭ ‬1991.
Synonyms: Protognathus oxyodon.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Sauropoda,‭ ‬Euhelopodidae.
Species: P.‭ ‬oxyodon‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of post cranial remains.
Known locations: China,‭ ‬Sichuan Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬Shaximiao Formation.
Time period: Bathonian/Callovian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Lower jaw.

       When first described in‭ ‬1988‭ ‬by Zhang Yihun this sauropod dinosaur genus was named as Protognathus.‭ ‬However it was soon realised that the name Protognathus had already been used to name a genus of beetle,‭ ‬so the dinosaur was renamed buy George Olshevsky to become Protognathosaurus in order to make it distinct from the beetle.‭ ‬Protognathosaurusis today‭ ‬is‭ ‬considered to be a dubious dinosaur genus on the grounds that it is only described from a partially preserved lower jaw.

Further reading
-‭ ‬The Middle Jurassic Dinosaur Fauna from Dashanpu,‭ ‬Zigong,‭ ‬Sichuan.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Vol.‭ ‬II.‭ ‬Sauropod Dinosaurs‭ (‬I‭)‬,‭ ‬Sichuan Publishing House of Science and Technology,‭ ‬Chengdu,‭ ‬China,‭ ‬89‭ ‬pp.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Zhang Yihun‭ ‬-‭ ‬1988.
-‭ ‬A revision of the parainfraclass Archosauria Cope,‭ ‬1869,‭ ‬excluding the advanced Crocodylia.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Mesozoic Meanderings‭ ‬2:1-196.‭ ‬-‭ ‬George Olshevsky‭ ‬-‭ ‬1991.



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