The cranial characters of a new specimen of <i>Yunguisaurus</i> from Middle Triassic Ladinian Xingyi fauna, Guizhou

LU Hao; ZHOU Min; FU Wanlu; CHAI Jun

doi:10.12097/j.issn.1671-2552.2023.10.007

2023 Vol. 42, No. 10

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LU Hao, ZHOU Min, FU Wanlu, CHAI Jun. 2023. The cranial characters of a new specimen of Yunguisaurus from Middle Triassic Ladinian Xingyi fauna, Guizhou. Geological Bulletin of China, 42(10): 1696-1705. doi: 10.12097/j.issn.1671-2552.2023.10.007

Citation:

LU Hao, ZHOU Min, FU Wanlu, CHAI Jun. 2023. The cranial characters of a new specimen of Yunguisaurus from Middle Triassic Ladinian Xingyi fauna, Guizhou. Geological Bulletin of China, 42(10): 1696-1705. doi: 10.12097/j.issn.1671-2552.2023.10.007

The cranial characters of a new specimen of Yunguisaurus from Middle Triassic Ladinian Xingyi fauna, Guizhou

1.
School of History, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
2.
School of Earth and Space Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
3.
Geological Museum of Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
4.
School of Archaeology and Museology, Beijing 100871, China

More Information

Corresponding author: ZHOU Min, minzhou@pku.edu.cn

Received Date: 10 March 2021

Revised Date: 12 November 2021

Publish Date: 15 October 2023

Abstract

Abstract

The Triassic Pistosauroidea from Europe, North America and China is the key to link the "stem-group" and "crown-group" Sauropterygia, and is important to reveal the origin and the early evolution of Jurassic-Cretaceous "crown-group" Sauropterygia, Plesiosaurus. Yunguisaurus is one of the most primitive genera of Pistosauroidea discovered in South China, with the most well-preserved specimens. However, the cranial osteology of Yunguisaurus is still lack of understanding. A new material of Yunguisaurus, excavated from the Zhuganpo Member(Ladinian) of Falang Formation, Xingyi Fauna in Guizhou Province, provides new detailed cranial information, such as the unfused frontals and the existence of an open space in the occipital region. Detailed comparison shows that the new material is the longest one among the five specimens of Yunguisaurus reported so far, indicating the unfused frontals should be a diagnosis of Yunguisaurus, rather than an ontogenic difference. There is no inner-posterior branch in squamosal of this new material, forming an open occipital part, which is similar to that of Plesiosaurus, indicating a close relationship with this genus.
- Middle Triassic /
- Pistosauroidea /
- Yunguisaurus /
- Guizhou Province

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References

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