Yuxisaurus

Yuxisaurus (meaning "Yuxi lizard") is an extinct genus of basal thyreophoran dinosaur from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian-Toarcian) Fengjiahe Formation of southwestern China. The type species is Yuxisaurus kopchicki. The taxon was recovered outside of Ankylosauria in the phylogenetic analyses performed by the authors.[1]

Yuxisaurus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic,
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: †Ornithischia
Clade: †Thyreophora
Genus: †Yuxisaurus
Yao et al., 2022
Species:
†Y. kopchicki
Binomial name
†Yuxisaurus kopchicki
Yao et al., 2022

Discovery and naming

Yuxisaurus was first named in a bioRxiv preprint released in late 2021, but at that time it was considered an informally named dinosaur.[2] The taxon was formally published shortly thereafter, in March 2022. The holotype of the taxon, CVEB 21701, represents a partial skeleton including parts of the skull and at least 120 osteoderms.[1]

The generic name, "Yuxisaurus," combines a reference to the type locality in Yuxi, Yunnan Province, China, with the Greek "sauros," meaning "lizard." The specific name, "kopchicki," honors the biologist John J. Kopchick.[1]

Classification

Yuxisaurus was a basal thyreophoran. Depending on the dataset, it may be the sister taxon to the German Emausaurus or more basal than Scelidosaurus and eurypods. The discovery of Yuxisaurus definitively proves that thyreophorans were present in Asia during the Early Jurassic, as other potential records of Early Jurassic Asian thyreophorans, Bienosaurus and Tatisaurus, are too fragmentary to be of any significance.[1]

References
  1. Yao, X.; Barrett, P. M.; Lei, Y.; Xu, X.; Bi, S. (2022-03-15). "A new early-branching armoured dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of southwestern China". eLife. 11: e75248. doi:10.7554/eLife.75248.
  2. Yao, Xi; Barrett, Paul; Yang, Lei; Xu, Xing; Bi, Shundong (2021-11-25). "A new early-branching armoured dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of southwestern China". bioRxiv: 1–43. doi:10.1101/2021.11.24.469951. S2CID 244671198.
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