Shunosaurus

*Shunosaurus lii*

***Shunosaurus*** (meaning "Shu Lizard") is an genus of sauropod dinosaur from Middle Jurassic (Bathonian–Callovian) beds in Sichuan Province in China, 170 million years ago. The name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for the Sichuan province.

## Discovery and species

The first fossil of *Shunosaurus* was discovered in 1977 by a group of students, practising paleontological excavation at a road bank. The type species, *Shunosaurus lii*, was described and named by Dong Zhiming, Zhou Shiwu and Zhang Yihong in 1983. The generic name derives from "Shu", an ancient name for Sichuan. The specific name honours hydrologist Li Bing, the governor of Sichuan in the third century BC.

The holotype, holotype, **IVPP V.9065**, was collected from the Lower Xiashaximiao Formation near Dashanpu, Zigong. It consists of a partial skeleton. Later about twenty more major specimens were discovered, including several complete or near-complete skeletons, skulls and juveniles, making *Shunosaurus* one of the best anatomically known sauropods, with 94% of all skeletal elements identified. *Shunosaurus* skeletons are on display at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum in Zigong, Sichuan Province, and the Beijing Museum of Natural History.

A second species, *S. ziliujingensis*, a name mentioned in the Zigong museum guide to indicate a smaller and older form, has never been formally described, and thus remains a *nomen nudum*.

## Description

*Shunosaurus* was first estimated to be 11 m ft long; later and more complete finds indicated a somewhat smaller size. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated the length at 9.5 m ft, the weight at 3 MT ST. *Shunosaurus* was very short-necked for a sauropod, being only "surpassed" in this respect by *Brachytrachelopan*. The skulls found are mostly compressed or disarticulated and the interpretation of the head form has varied from broad, short and deep to extremely narrow and pointed. The upper and lower jaws were strongly curved upwards, allowing them to function as a pair of garden shears. The teeth were fairly robust but elongated with a crown length of up to 8 cm in. They show a unique combination of a cylindrical body ending in a spatulate tip. In 1989 it was disclosed that the tail ended in a club, equipped on its top with two successive spikes formed by 5 cm in-long cone-shaped osteoderms probably used to fend off enemies or intimidate rivals.

## Classification

*Shunosaurus* was originally classified as a member of the Cetiosaurinae; in 1992 Dong assigned it to **Shunosaurinae** within the Cetiosauridae.

Cladistic analyses have rendered conflicting results. In 1995 Paul Upchurch published a study in which *Shunosaurus* belonged to the Euhelopodidae together with other Jurassic Chinese sauropods. However, an analysis by Jeffrey Wilson in 2002 indicated it had a very basal position within the Eusauropoda. *Shunosaurus* is perhaps related to *Rhoetosaurus* from Queensland in Australia.

The cladogram below shows a possible phylogenetic position:

## Paleobiology

Its neck length indicates that *Shunosaurus* was a low browser. The form of its jaws is well-adapted to processing large amounts of coarse plant material.

*Shunosaurus* accounts for 90% of the fossils found in the Dashanpu fauna, showing it was a dominant member of its habitat. It shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with other sauropods, *Datousaurus*, *Omeisaurus* and *Protognathosaurus*, the possible ornithopod *Xiaosaurus*, and the early stegosaur *Huayangosaurus*, as well as the carnivorous theropod *Gasosaurus*.

## JPInstitute.com Description

Shunosaurus was one mean long-necked dinosaur. It was the only sauropod we know of that had a club on the end of its tail. It would have been a very dangerous weapon when swung by such a large animal.

It is thought that this dinosaur was a transitional species between the prosauropods and the later sauropods. Its club tail and short neck are not found on later sauropod species. It was a fairly common dinosaur in its time, with more than 10 specimens found to date. Like many Chinese dinosaurs, new and ongoing studies are adding greatly to the information from the fossil-rich areas of central China, particularly in the Sichuan province.

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

* In *Jurassic Park: Builder*, *Shunosaurus* appears as a DNA tournament exclusive animal for Jurassic Park.
* *Shunosaurus* appears in *Jurassic World: The Game* It originally wasn't in the game but since August 4, 2015 it can be created for the player's park by unlocking it in the Level 53 battle arena.

## Links

http://web.archive.org/web/20031008002943fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc\_shuno.html#

## References

1. ↑ Dong, Z., Zhou, S. & Zhang, Y. 1983. [Dinosaurs from the Jurassic of Sichuan]. *Palaeontologica Sinica*, New Series C 162(23): 1-136
2. ↑ Paul, G.S., 2010, *The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs*, Princeton University Press p. 173
3. ↑ Paul, G.S., 2010, *The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs*, Princeton University Press p. 175
4. ↑ Paul, G.S., 2010, *The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs*, Princeton University Press p. 174
5. ↑ Zheng , Zhong (1996). *Cranial Anatomy of* Shunosaurus *and* Camarasaurus *(Dinosauria: Sauropoda) and the phylogeny of the Sauropoda*. Dissertation Texas Tech University. pp. 208
6. ↑ Dong Z., Peng G., Huang D. 1989. [The discovery of the bony tail club of sauropods]. *Vertebrata Palasiatica* **27**: 219–224
7. ↑ Template:Cite book
8. ↑ P. Upchurch. 1995. "The evolutionary history of sauropod dinosaurs". *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B* **349**: 365-390
9. ↑ J. A. Wilson. 2002. "Sauropod dinosaur phylogeny: critique and cladistic analysis". *Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society* **136**: 217-276
10. ↑ J.A. Wilson, 2002, "Sauropod dinosaur phylogeny: critique and cladistic analysis", *Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society* **136**: 217-276
11. ↑ Chatterjee, S. & Zheng, Z. 2002. "Cranial anatomy of *Shunosaurus*, a basal sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China". *Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society* **136**(1): 145–169