Sinopliosaurus
Name:
Sinopliosaurus
(Chinese Pliosaurus).
Phonetic: Sy-no-ply-o-sore-us.
Named By: C. C. Young - 1944.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygiia, Plesiosauria, Pliosauria.
Species: S. weiyuanensis
(type).
Diet: Piscivore/Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: China.
Time period: Aptian/Abian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial remains.
There
is a lot of confusion about the pliosaur
genus Sinopliosaurus, all stemming
from a misidentification of some spinosaurid
dinosaur teeth as those
belonging to a marine reptile. The first species of Sinopliosaurus,
S. weiyuanensis was established by C. C.
Young, and was
established as a pliosaur. Then in 1975 a second species was
added to the Sinopliosaurus genus as S.
fusuiensis, but only based
upon the description of teeth. Then in 2008 these teeth were
identified as actually belonging to a spinosaurid dinosaur, and not a
pliosaur.
The
problem with the teeth of ‘S’. fusuiensisis is that by themselves
they are not distinct enough to name a new genus. In addition the
teeth can no longer be named Sinopliosaurus, as
this name is already
occupied by the original fossil material of S. weiyuanensis,
the
pliosaur, and under international rules governing the naming of
animals, no two animals may share the same name, even if they are
different types of animal. ‘Sinopliosaurus’ fusuiensisis only
exists with quotations and without italics to mark them out in a way to
avoid further confusion. Despite this many writers have still
credited Sinopliosaurus fusuiensis as a distinct genus of spinosaurid
dinosaur, when it simply isn’t. For the record, the teeth
credited as ‘Sinopliosaurus’ fusuiensisis are similar to those of
another dubious genus of spinosaurid from Thailand, Siamosaurus.
Further reading
- On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. -
Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 24(3–4):187-205
- C. C. Young - 1944.
- Fossil reptiles from Fusui, Kwangshi. - Vertebrata
PalAsiatica 13(1):24-33 - L.-H. Hou, H.-K. Yeh
& X.-J. Zhao - 1975.
- An Early Cretaceous spinosaur theropod from southern China. -
Geological Magazine 145 (5): 745–748. - E. Buffetaut,
V. Suteethorn, H. Tong & R. Amiot - 2008.
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