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1 November 2012 A New Eosauropterygian (Diapsida, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic of China
Yen-Nien Cheng, Xiao-Chun Wu, Tamaki Sato, Hsi-Yin Shan
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Abstract

A new Middle Triassic sauropterygian, Qianxisaurus chajiangensis, gen. et sp. nov., is described on the basis of a skeleton from the Zhuganpo Member (Ladinian) of the Falang Formation, Xingyi, southwestern Guizhou Province, China. It is primarily characterized by a premaxilla with eight teeth, marginal teeth with a slightly constricted peduncle and short conical crown, snout longer than the rest of skull, postorbital with a truncated dorsal process and forked posterior process, a very small supratemporal fenestra, a short retroarticular process posteriorly truncated and lacking a dorsal concavity, an elongate trunk with 28 vertebrae, a stout sacrum with four vertebrae, a longitudinal groove on proximodorsal surface of the dorsal ribs, and a coracoid with a narrow lateral portion and a foot-shaped medial portion. Q. chajiangensis appears similar to the European pachypleurosaurs, but a global phylogenetic analysis failed to support close relationships with these taxa. Instead, Q. chajiangensis is an eosauropterygian and most probably the sister group of a clade consisting of the European pachypleurosaurs and the Nothosauroidea. The discovery of Q. chajiangensis certainly enriches our knowledge of the early history of the Eosauropterygia and leads to a better understanding of the phylogenetic relationships among known eosauropterygians.

© 2012 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Yen-Nien Cheng, Xiao-Chun Wu, Tamaki Sato, and Hsi-Yin Shan "A New Eosauropterygian (Diapsida, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic of China," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(6), 1335-1349, (1 November 2012). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2012.695983
Received: 18 October 2011; Accepted: 17 May 2012; Published: 1 November 2012
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