Extinct genus of dinosaurs From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sinankylosaurus (meaning "Chinese fused lizard") is a genus of dinosaur, originally described as an ankylosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Hongtuya Formation of Shandong, China. The genus contains a single species, Sinankylosaurus zhuchengensis, known from a nearly complete right ilium. The describers claim that the discovery of Sinankylosaurus further demonstrates the similarity between dinosaurs of eastern Asia and western North America.[1]
| Sinankylosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous ~ | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Genus: | †Sinankylosaurus Wang et al., 2020 |
| Species: | †S. zhuchengensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Sinankylosaurus zhuchengensis Wang et al., 2020 | |
Beginning in 1964, paleontologists conducted large-scale excavations in Zhucheng and discovered an abundant source of fossils; notably dinosaur fossils.[2]
ZJZ-183, the holotype specimen, was discovered with the Zhuchengtyrannus holotype in the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group (specifically the Hongtuya Formation[1]) in Zhucheng, Shandong Province, China around 2010.[3] The fossil was prepared during the following years and was later described in 2020.[1]
Because it is only known from an ilium, the external appearance of Sinankylosaurus remains unknown. Its describers noted similarities with other ankylosaur ilia, but a 2021 study did not consider it an ankylosaur and called it a nomen dubium.[4]
Sinankylosaurus is known from the Hongtuya Formation, part of the Wangshi Group of southern China. Other animals from this group include Sinoceratops, a ceratopsian,[5] Shantungosaurus, a very common hadrosaurid to which most of the material has been assigned,[6] Zhuchengtyrannus, an Asian tyrannosaurid related to Tarbosaurus,[7] Zhuchengceratops, an Asian leptoceratopsid,[8] and material tentatively assigned to Tyrannosaurus.
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