Datousaurus
{{Short description|Extinct species of reptile}}
{{speciesbox
| fossil_range = Middle Jurassic, {{fossilrange|166|162}}
| image = Datousaurus.jpg
| image_caption = Reconstructed skeleton
| genus = Datousaurus
| parent_authority = Dong & Tang, 1984
| species = bashanensis
| authority = Dong & Tang, 1984
}}
Datousaurus (meaning "chieftain lizard" or "big-head lizard"; originally named using the Malay datu, after its Chinese nickname qiulong - literally "chieftain dragon" - but also a pun on its big head; da tou means "big head" in Chinese){{cite web |url=http://www.dinosauria.com/dml/dmlf.htm |title=The DOL Dinosaur Omnipedia |website=www.dinosauria.com |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051231235112/http://www.dinosauria.com/dml/dmlf.htm |archive-date=31 December 2005 |url-status=dead}} was a dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. It was a sauropod collected from the Lower Shaximiao Formation in Dashanpu, Zigong Sichuan province, China. It shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with other sauropods such as Shunosaurus, Omeisaurus, Protognathosaurus, the ornithopod Xiaosaurus, the early stegosaur Huayangosaurus as well as the carnivorous Gasosaurus.
Discovery and species
File:Zigong Dinosaur Museum Datousaurus.jpg
Datousaurus was named by Dong Zhiming and Tang Zilu in 1984. To date, only two partial skeletons have been discovered. Neither had an articulated skull, although one skull has been discovered that has been attributed to the genus."Datousaurus." In: Dodson, Peter & Britt, Brooks & Carpenter, Kenneth & Forster, Catherine A. & Gillette, David D. & Norell, Mark A. & Olshevsky, George & Parrish, J. Michael & Weishampel, David B. The Age of Dinosaurs. Publications International, LTD. p. 68. {{ISBN|0-7853-0443-6}}.
D. bashanensis is the only established species. The species epithet refers to the discovery of the species in Sichuan; it is derived from "the mountains of Ba and rivers of Shu" ({{zh|s=巴山蜀水|p=Bā shān Shǔ shuǐ}}), a popular way of poetically referring to the landscape of Sichuan.
Paleobiology
=''Datousaurus'' and ''Shunosaurus''=
Datousaurus and Shunosaurus were both closely related animals with similar anatomies. However, Datousaurus's elongated vertebrae gave it a higher reach and its teeth were more spoon shaped. This may be a sign that these contemporaries fed on different plants and/or at different heights in the trees. This strategy may have reduced competition between the two genera. A similar pattern of height difference possibly associated with feeding behaviors is found in the diplodocids.
References
- Creisler B, 'Chinese Dinosaurs:Naming The Dragons' The Dinosaur Report, Fall 1994, pp16–17
- {{cite book|author=Dong Zhiming|author-link=Dong Zhiming|year=1992|title=Dinosaurian Faunas of China|publisher=China Ocean Press, Beijing|isbn=3-540-52084-8}}
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{{Sauropodomorpha|B.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q139919}}
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1984