Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the New Papers

["Harris, Jerald" <jharris@dixie.edu>]

OK, so Indy's not involved here, but several new dinosaurs are!  Oh -- the 
movie is so-so -- enjoyable, but not a match for "Raiders" or "Last Crusade."  
Still debating whether or not it's better than "Temple of Doom"; probably is, 
but not by a heckuva lot.  Thanks to KT & DF for these!
 
 
 

Xu, X., and Clark, J.M. 2008. The presence of a gigantic theropod in the 
Jurassic Shishugou Formation, Junggar Basin, western China. Vetebrata 
PalAsiatica 46(2):157-160.

 

 

Mo, J.-Y., Hua, C.-L., Zhao, Z.-R., Wang, W., and Xu, X. 2008. A new titanosaur 
(Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of Guangxi, China. Vetebrata 
PalAsiatica 46(2):147-156.

ABSTRACT: A new titanosaurian taxon, Qingxiusaurus youjiangensis gen. et sp. 
nov. , from the Upper Cretaceous red beds of Nanning City, Guangxi, China is 
reported. It is represented by several postcranial elements including a cranial 
caudal neural spine, a pair of sternal plates, and a pair of humeri. The new 
taxon is diagnosed on the basis of a combination of following features: 
simply-built cranial caudal neural spine elongated and paddle-shaped and the 
length ratio between sternal plate and humerus low (about 0.65). The new form, 
as well as other recently recovered titanosaurian taxa from Asia, indicates a 
highly modified postcranial morphology and large diversity within this sauropod 
clade in the Cretaceous of Asia.

 

 

Yuan, C. 2008. A new genus and species of Sapeornithidae from Lower Cretaceous 
in western Liaoning, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 82(1):48-55.

ABSTRACT: Sapeornithidae is a basal pygostylian family of Early Cretaceous 
primitive birds, in which only one genus and species, Sapeornis chaoyangensis, 
was reported before. This paper deals with a new genus and species of this 
family, Didactylornis jii gen. et sp. nov., which was unearthed from the Early 
Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in western Liaoning. According to our 
phylogenetic analyses, both Didactylornis gen. nov. and Sapeornis form a sister 
group, which is basal to the clade formed by Confuciusornis and all the more 
derived birds, and more closely related to the short-tailed pygostylian birds 
than to the long-tailed avialian birds. The early history of pygostylian birds 
is poorly documented except for the studies of Confuciusornis and Sapeornis. 
The discovery of Didactylornis jii gen. et sp. nov. adds the new material for 
the study on the early evolution of birds.

 

 

Lü, J., Azuma, Y., Chen, R., Zheng, W., and Jin, X. 2008. A new titanosauriform 
sauropod from the early Late Cretaceous of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province. Acta 
Geologica Sinica 82(1):225-235.

ABSTRACT: A new titanosauriform sauropod Dongyangosaurus sinensis gen. et sp. 
nov. from the early Late Cretaceous of Dongyang County, Zhejiang Province, is 
erected based on a partial postcranial skeleton. It is characterized by complex 
laminae on the lateral surface of the neural spines and postzygapophyses of 
dorsal vertebrae, a distinct fossa on the ventral surfaces of the 
prezygapophyses of dorsal vertebrae, distinct fossae are also present on the 
lateral surface of the postzygapophysis of anterior caudal vertebrae; pubis is 
shorter than ischium, the small obturator foramen of pubis elongated, and 
nearly closed. The lamina complexity of dorsal vertebrae in Dongyangosaurus 
indicates that a higher diversity of titanosauriformes occurred during the 
early Late Cretaceous in China.

 

 

Lü, J., Azuma, Y., Chen, R., Zheng, W., and Jin, X. 2008. A new mamenchisaurid 
dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, China. Acta 
Geologica Sinica 82(1):17-26.

ABSTRACT: A new mamenchisaurid dinosaur, Eomamenchisaurus yuanmouensis gen et 
sp. nov. is erected based on an incomplete skeleton from the Zhanghe Formation, 
the Middle Jurassic of Yuanmou, Yunnan Province. The new taxon is characterized 
by absence of pleurocoels in dorsal vertebrae and the dorsal verterbrae with 
slightly convex anterior articular surfaces, moderately concave posterior 
articular surfaces; the fourth trochanter is developed posteromedially on the 
femur; length ratio of the tibia to the femur is approximately 0.64; and the 
shaft of the ischium is rod-like. Two fused centra of the posterior dorsal 
vertebrae (the presumed 9th and the 10th dorsal vertebrae) are similar to those 
in other mamenchisaurid dinosaurs, including Mamenchisaurus hochuanesis, M. 
youngi and Chuanjiesaurus anaensis. Therefore, fusion of centra of the ninth 
and the tenth dorsal vertebrae can be recognized as a synapomorphic character 
of the Mamenchisauridae.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry D. Harris
Director of Paleontology
Dixie State College
Science Building
225 South 700 East
St. George, UT 84770 USA
Phone: (435) 652-7758
Fax: (435) 656-4022
E-mail: jharris@dixie.edu <mailto:jharris@dixie.edu> 
 and dinogami@gmail.com <mailto:dinogami@gmail.com> 
http://cactus.dixie.edu/jharris/ <http://cactus.dixie.edu/jharris/> 

 
"There's a saying that goes 'people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw 
stones'... OK. How about...NOBODY should throw stones. That's crappy behavior! 
My policy is 'no stone-throwing regardless of housing situation.' There's an 
exception, though. If you're TRAPPED in a glass house...and you have a stone, 
then throw it! What are you, an idiot? It's really 'ONLY people in glass houses 
should throw stones'... provided they're trapped, in a house... with a stone. 
It's a little longer, but you know..."
 --- Demetri Martin