Sinopliosaurus Explained

Sinopliosaurus (meaning "Chinese more lizard") is a dubious genus of pliosauroid plesiosaur. It lived during the Aptian and Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous^[1] (disputed Sinopliosaurus remains have been dated to the Toarcian age and were found in the Ziliujing Formation) of the People's Republic of China - its exact age is unknown. The type species, Sinopliosaurus weiyuanensis, was named and described in 1944 by Yang Zhongjian.^[2] One species, "S." fusuiensis, was later shown to be based on teeth from a spinosaurid theropod dinosaur which is now known as Siamosaurus.^[3] S. weiyuanensis was considered as a freshwater plesiosaur.^[4]

The holotype, IVPP V140, consists of three vertebrae and a tooth, discovered in a layer of the Lianmugin Formation (Tugulu Group).^[5]

See also

• List of plesiosaur genera
• Timeline of plesiosaur research

Notes and References

1. C.-C. Young. (1973). "Plesiosaur remains discovered in Dsungar Basin, Sinkiang". Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Academia Sinica 11:13-17
2. C.-C. Young. (1944). On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 24(3–4):187-205
3. Buffetaut . E. . Suteethorn, V. . Tong, H. . Amiot, R. . 2008 . An Early Cretaceous spinosaur theropod from southern China . Geological Magazine . 145 . 5 . 745–748 . 10.1017/S0016756808005360. 2008GeoM..145..745B . 129921019 .
4. Gao. Ting. Li. Da-Qing. Li. Long-Feng. Yang. Jing-Tao. 2019-08-13. The first record of freshwater plesiosaurian from the Middle Jurassic of Gansu, NW China, with its implications to the local palaeobiogeography. Journal of Palaeogeography. 8. 1. 27. 10.1186/s42501-019-0043-5. 2019JPalg...8...27G. 199547716. 2524-4507. free.
5. Z. Dong. (1973). [Cretaceous stratigraphy of Wuerho district, Dsungar Basin]. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica 11:1-7