|
''Beipiaosaurus'' is a genus of therizinosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. Before the discovery of ''Yutyrannus'', it was among the largest dinosaurs known from direct evidence to be feathered. The exact classification of therizinosaurs had in the past been hotly debated, since their prosauropod-like teeth and body structure indicate that they were generally herbivorous, unlike typical theropods. ''Beipiaosaurus'', being considered to be a primitive therizinosauroid, has features which suggest that all therizinosauroids, including the more derived Therizinosauridae, to be coelurosaurian theropods, not sauropodomorph or ornithischian relatives as once believed. ==Discovery== In 1996, the peasant Li Yinxian discovered a skeleton of a theropod dinosaur near the village of Sihetun. In the May 27, 1999, issue of the journal ''Nature'' the discovery was announced and the type species ''Beipiaosaurus inexpectus'' named and described by Xu Xing, Tang Zhilu and Wang Xiaolin. The generic name ''Beipiaosaurus'' translates as "Beipiao lizard" after Beipiao, a city in China near the location of its discovery. ''Beipiaosaurus'' is known from a single species, ''B. inexpectus'', the specific name, meaning "unexpected" in Latin, referring to "the surprising features in this animal". The type specimen of ''Beipiaosaurus inexpectus'', holotype IVPP V11559, was recovered in the Jianshangou Beds of the Yixian Formation in Liaoning Province, China. The specimen was collected in sediment deposited during the Aptian stage of the Cretaceous period, approximately 125 to 124 million years ago. This specimen is housed in the collection of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, in Beijing, China. It consists of a partial, sub-adult, skeleton that is largely disarticulated. A significant number of fossilized bones were recovered, including: cranial fragments, a mandible, teeth, three cervical vertebrae, four dorsal vertebrae, four dorsal ribs, two sacral vertebrae, twenty-five caudal vertebrae, a pygostyle, three chevrons, an incomplete furcula and scapula, two coracoids, a complete forelimb, a partial forelimb, both ilia, an incomplete pubis, and incomplete ischium, a femur, both tibiae (one incomplete), an incomplete fibula, an astragalus, a calcaneum, several tarsals, metatarsals, and unguals, and remains of the integument, including feathers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Beipiaosaurus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|