page_title: Xingxiulong
section_title: Discovery and naming
hierarchical_section_title: Xingxiulong / Discovery and naming
caption_attribution_description: English: Figure 1: Geographic and geologic map showing the location of Xingxiulong chengi gen. et sp. nov. (indicated by the red star and dinosaur silhouette), and generalized stratigraphic section of Early and Middle Jurassic of Lufeng Basin, modified from Fang et al. This map is created by Y.M.W. using CorelDRAW (vers. X7) http://www.corel.com/cn/.
context_page_description: Xingxiulong is a genus of bipedal sauropodiform from the Early Jurassic of China. It contains a single species, X. chengi, described by Wang et al. in 2017 from three specimens, two adults and an immature individual, that collectively constitute a mostly complete skeleton. Adults of the genus measured 4–5 metres long and 1–1.5 metres tall. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Xingxiulong is most closely related to its contemporary Jingshanosaurus, although an alternative position outside of both the Sauropodiformes and Massospondylidae is also plausible.
  Despite their close relationship, Xingxiulong prominently differs from Jingshanosaurus - and from most basal sauropodomorphs - in having a number of sauropod-like traits. These include a sacrum containing four vertebrae; a pubis with an exceptionally long top portion; and the femur, the first and fifth metatarsals on the foot, and the scapula being wide and robust. These probably represent adaptations to supporting high body weight, in particular a large gut. Unlike sauropods, however, Xingxiulong would still have been bipedal.
context_section_description: LFGT-D0002, the mature holotype specimen of Xingxiulong, consists of a partial skull with jaws; the seventh to ninth cervical vertebrae, the eighth to fourteenth dorsal vertebrae, the entire sacrum, and 35 caudal vertebrae; rib and chevron fragments; the left ilium, and parts of both pubes and ischia; both femora and tibiae, parts of the fibula, the left ankle, and both feet (nearly complete).
  Two referred specimens exist. LFGT-D0003, also mature, consists of a partial skull with jaws; the third to tenth cervical vertebrae, as well as all of the dorsal vertebrae and most of the sacrum; rib and chevron fragments; both scapulae, humeri, ulnae, and radii, as well as part of the hand; parts of both ilia (the right one is complete) and pubes (the left one is complete); the left femur, parts of both tibiae and fibulae (the right ones are complete), as well as the right ankle and parts of the feet. LFGT-D0001, which is smaller and probably immature, consists of the axis, the third to tenth cervical vertebrae, all of the dorsal vertebrae and sacrum, and the first nineteenth caudal vertebrae; rib and chevron fragments; the right scapula and ilium, as well as parts of the right pubis and ischium; parts of the femora and left tibia, along with the left ankle.
  These specimens were discovered, buried together, near the Sankeshu Village of Lufeng County, Yunnan, China in 2013, and are stored at the Bureau of Land and Resources of Lufeng County. The rocks that these specimens were preserved in, consisting of purple silty mudstone, belong to the Early Jurassic Shawan Member of the Lufeng Formation, which has been tentatively dated to being Hettangian in age.
  Xingxiulong was described in 2017 by Ya-Ming Wang, Hai-Lu You, and Tao Wang. The generic name (literally meaning "constellation") refers to the Xingxiu Bridge (星宿), which was constructed during the Ming Dynasty of China. Meanwhile, the specific name chengi honours Professor Zheng-Wu Cheng, who made major contributions to the biostratigraphy of China, including that of the Lufeng area, and passed away in 2015.
caption: Map and location in the stratigraphic column of the type locality of Xingxiulong
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