Yunmenglong

Yunmenglong
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125–100.5 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Sauropodomorpha
Clade: Sauropoda
Clade: Macronaria
Clade: Somphospondyli
Genus: Yunmenglong
et al., 2013
Type species
Yunmenglong ruyangensis
et al., 2013

Yunmenglong (meaning "Yunmeng dragon", after the Yunmengshan area where it was found[1]) is an extinct genus of somphospondylan sauropod known from the late Early Cretaceous of Henan Province, central China. Its remains were discovered in the Haoling Formation of the Ruyang Basin. The type species is Yunmenglong ruyangensis, described in 2013 by Junchang Lü et al. on the basis of an incomplete postcranial skeleton. Yunmenglong shares some characters with Euhelopus, Qiaowanlong and Erketu, and a phylogenetic analysis places it as a sister taxon of Qiaowanlong, both grouped with Erketu in a position more derived than Euhelopus but basal to Titanosauria. [1]

  1. ^ a b Lü, J.; Xu, L.; Pu, H.; Zhang, X.; Zhang, Y.; Jia, S.; Chang, H.; Zhang, J.; Wei, X. (2013). "A new sauropod dinosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) from the late Early Cretaceous of the Ruyang Basin (central China)". Cretaceous Research. 44: 202–213. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2013.04.009.