review of Late Jurassic stegosaurs from PRC (new paper)

[Jay <sappororaptor@yahoo.com>]

Maidment, S. C. R., and Wei, G. 2006. A review of the Late Jurassic stegosaurs 
(Dinosauria,
Stegosauria) from the People's Republic of China. Geological Magazine. 14pp. 
(volume & number
unassigned yet).

Abstract ? Seven genera of stegosaurian dinosaur have been named on the basis 
of material from
the Upper Jurassic of China, and this represents a diversity of stegosaurs 
unparalleled around the
world at this time. However, many of the original specimens used to diagnose 
and describe these
species are currently unavailable, and the original descriptions and figures 
are often inadequate.
The
Chinese stegosaurs have proven ?unstable? in the few cladistic analyses of 
Stegosauria that have
been
carried out, causing a loss of resolution in cladograms. Supplementary data on 
previously
described
specimens are presented here along with a taxonomic revision. Only 
Tuojiangosaurus multispinus,
Chungkingosaurus jiangbeiensis and Gigantspinosaurus sichuanensis are 
considered to be valid taxa,
with autapomorphies pertaining to features of the ilio-sacral blocks and dermal 
armour in all
cases.
The holotype specimen of ?Chialingosaurus kuani? is a juvenile, bearing no 
diagnostic characters,
and ?Monkonosaurus lawulacus? is based on fragmentary and undiagnostic 
material. ?Changtusaurus?
and ?Yingshanosaurus? have never been described or figured and their 
whereabouts are unknown, so
they are regarded as nomina nuda. This taxonomic revision significantly reduces 
known stegosaurian
diversity worldwide, and shows that the Chinese diversity was similar to that 
of Europe and North
America in the Upper Jurassic. Previously, it had been suggested that the 
diversity of Chinese
stegosaurs
indicated an Asian origin for the clade, a claim that cannot now be upheld.


I had a cursory look at the paper and i must say that i'm alarmed that the 
authors weren't able to
locate many of the holotype/paratype material for thier redescriptions (?lost).


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