Tonganosaurus

Tong-an-sor-us.
Published on

Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Tonganosaurus ‭(‬Tong'an lizard‭)‬.

Phonetic

Tong-an-sor-us.

Named By

K.‭ ‬Li,‭ ‬C.-Y.‭ ‬Yang,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Liu‭ & ‬Z.-X.‭ ‬Wang‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Sauropoda,‭ ‬Mamenchisauridae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

T.‭ ‬hei‭

Size

Possibly up to 12 meters long.

Known locations

China,‭ ‬Sichuan‭ ‬-‭ ‬Yimen Formation.

Time Period

Early Jurassic.

Fossil representation

Partial limbs and twenty vertebrae.

In Depth

       Tonganosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in China during the early Jurassic.‭ ‬Tonganosaurus is seen as being similar to Omeisaurus,‭ ‬and both are classified as mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaurs‭ (‬similar to Mamenchisaurus‭)‬.

Further Reading

– [A new sauropod from the Lower Jurassic of Huili,‭ ‬Sichuan,‭ ‬China‭]‬.‭ ‬-Vertebrata PalAsiatica‭ ‬48‭(‬3‭)‬:185-202‭ ‬-‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Li,‭ ‬C.-Y.‭ ‬Yang,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Liu‭ & ‬Z.-X.‭ ‬Wang‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010. – Systematic analysis method of Sauropod: a case study of 486 Tonganosaurus hei. – Acta Geologica Sinica, 87, 1826-1833. – C. Y. Yang – 2013.

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