Pronunciation: CHWAHN-jyeh-SOR-us
Meaning: Chuanjie lizard
Author/s: Fang et al. (2000)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Yunnan, China
Discovery Chart Position: #463
Chuanjiesaurus anaensis
Chuanjiesaurus was coined right at the end of a 2000 paper in which Fang et al. divided the "Lufeng Group" into manageable chunks of time, and was afforded no more than a half page for its entire description which was enough to cement its name in dinosaur lore, but only by the skin of its teeth. The fossils themselves aren't too shabby, but they are still stuck in the ground with much of the right side impossible to study. But the World Dinosaur Valley visitor center has been built on top so palaeontologists can still examine the visible parts, plus the remains of four turtles, at least four more large sauropods based on duplicate elements (three of which are too poorly preserved to identify as Chuanjiesaurus or not) and a carnivorous theropod dinosaur known as Shidaisaurus jinaeso, even if it rains.
Chuanjiesaurus was originally placed in Cetiosauridae by Fang and colleagues in a preliminary description that really wasn't up to snuff. A detailed description was lacking, they failed to specify which parts of the "relatively complete postcranial skeleton" represented the holotype, a series of neck vertebrae that was supposed to be visible in an accompanying image wasn't, and most of the characteristics that were identified as unique are present in other sauropods. But it's not all bad news. While Toru Sekiya studied for his PhD dissertation in China between 2005-2010 and focused his field research in Lufeng, he concluded that the quarrry's only other diognostic sauropod was a second Chuanjiesaurus individual, and upon inspection found a series of features in common with Mamenchisaurus, Tienshanosaurus and Yuanmousaurus, which belong to a group of noodle-necked sauropods known colletively as mamenchisaurids. As it transpired, the "new" specimen differs from the holotype in nine features of its vertebrae, lower forelimb and thigh, and was renamed Analong chuanjieensis in 2020. Fortunately, Sekiya had fully described the name-bearing specimen of Chuanjiesaurus and ticked all the relevant boxes, so it's still a mamenchisaurid in good standing.
Chuanjiesaurus was originally placed in Cetiosauridae by Fang and colleagues in a preliminary description that really wasn't up to snuff. A detailed description was lacking, they failed to specify which parts of the "relatively complete postcranial skeleton" represented the holotype, a series of neck vertebrae that was supposed to be visible in an accompanying image wasn't, and most of the characteristics that were identified as unique are present in other sauropods. But it's not all bad news. While Toru Sekiya studied for his PhD dissertation in China between 2005-2010 and focused his field research in Lufeng, he concluded that the quarrry's only other diognostic sauropod was a second Chuanjiesaurus individual, and upon inspection found a series of features in common with Mamenchisaurus, Tienshanosaurus and Yuanmousaurus, which belong to a group of noodle-necked sauropods known colletively as mamenchisaurids. As it transpired, the "new" specimen differs from the holotype in nine features of its vertebrae, lower forelimb and thigh, and was renamed Analong chuanjieensis in 2020. Fortunately, Sekiya had fully described the name-bearing specimen of Chuanjiesaurus and ticked all the relevant boxes, so it's still a mamenchisaurid in good standing.
Etymology
Chuanjiesaurus is derived from the Chinese Pinyin "Chuanjie" (for the township in which it was discovered) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, anaensis, means "from Ana" (for A'na village) in Latin.
Discovery
The first remains of Chuanjiesaurus were discovered in the "Red Beds" of the Chuanjie Formation at A'na Village, Chuanjie Township (now known as Konglongshan), Lufeng County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China, by Mr. Tao Wang of the Lufeng Dinosaur Museum in
1995. Bucking the trend of excavating fossils and transporting them to a museum for preparation and study, they were left in the ground under a locals-built house for protection until 2008, then the
"World Dinosaur Valley Park" was built on top of them.
The holotype (Lfch 1001) was reviewed in 2011 and now consists of a series of 16 tail vertebrae, shoulder girdle, both humeri plus the ulna and radius from a left lower arm, and a thigh, shin, calf and ankle from a right leg. An almost complete, skull-less skeleton (LCD9701-I), preserved beside the holotype at the
same site, was thought to be a second specimen of Chuanjiesaurus. But it was named Analong chuanjieensis by Ren et al. in 2020.
