Bellusaurus

Bellusaurus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, 170 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Skull of a Bellusaurus sui on display at the Paleozoological Museum of China.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Sauropodomorpha
Infraorder:	Sauropoda
Family:	Mamenchisauridae
Genus:	Bellusaurus Chao, 1987

Bellusaurus (meaning "Beautiful lizard", from Vulgar Latin bellus 'beautiful' (masculine form) and Ancient Greek sauros 'lizard') was a small short-necked sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic which measured about 4.8 metres (16 ft) long. Its fossils were found in Shishugou Formation rocks in the northeastern Junggar Basin in China.

Discovery and species

An artist's depiction of Bellusaurus

Restored skeleton

The type (and only known) species is Bellusaurus sui, formally described by Chao in 1987. Seventeen individuals were found in a single quarry, suggesting that a herd had been killed in a flash flood. Some features suggest they may have all been juveniles.

Bellusaurus species

• B. sui

References

• Dong Zhiming (1992). Dinosaurian Faunas of China. China Ocean Press, Beijing. ISBN 3-540-52084-8. 

External links

• Bellusaurus in the Dinosaur Encyclopedia
• Bellusaurus in the Dino Directory