Pronunciation: GAS-o-SOR-us
Meaning: Gas Lizard
Author/s: Dong and Tang (1985)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Sichuan, China
Discovery Chart Position: #319
Gasosaurus constructus
The only confirmed specimen of this obscure and unfortunately-named dinosaur was discovered in 1985 by the employees of a Chinese gas mining company. But despite its fragmentary nature, palaeontologists have managed to piece together something that is undeniably a theropod.
The skull is the "Rosetta stone" of fossils and often sheds the most light on new discoveries. But as Gasosaurus is currently headless, its classification has proven problematic. It has been pegged as a coelurosaur, a carnosaur, a common ancestor of coelurosaurs and carnosaurs, and the most basal tetanuran by various experts at different times. But it may be a misclassified megalosauroid or even a synonym of Kaijiangosaurus instead, in which case it would be lost to the mists of time, as the latter was named first.
Rumour has it, Gasosaurus could be an allosauroid, possibly a sinraptorid (or a metriacanthosaurid, depending on which expert you follow), but this theory is based on material that has yet to be officially described. To clear things up we really need more Gas'. No wind-breaking gags, please. This is a family site.
The skull is the "Rosetta stone" of fossils and often sheds the most light on new discoveries. But as Gasosaurus is currently headless, its classification has proven problematic. It has been pegged as a coelurosaur, a carnosaur, a common ancestor of coelurosaurs and carnosaurs, and the most basal tetanuran by various experts at different times. But it may be a misclassified megalosauroid or even a synonym of Kaijiangosaurus instead, in which case it would be lost to the mists of time, as the latter was named first.
Rumour has it, Gasosaurus could be an allosauroid, possibly a sinraptorid (or a metriacanthosaurid, depending on which expert you follow), but this theory is based on material that has yet to be officially described. To clear things up we really need more Gas'. No wind-breaking gags, please. This is a family site.
(Constructed Gas Lizard)Etymology
Gasosaurus constructus is derived from the English "gas", the Greek "sauros" (lizard) and the Latin "constructus" (constructed), because it was discovered during the construction of a gas facility. That's the obvious meaning. The not so obvious, is that the Chinese "qi" means "gas" but it can also mean "trouble", so the name was constructed with a second meaning, an apparent reference to Dong's struggle with local authorities to preserve the fossil bone beds, meaning the epithet (con-struc-tus) is also a word play.
Discovery
The remains of Gasosaurus were discovered in the Lower Shaximiao (Xiashaximiao) Formation during the construction of a gas facility near Dashanpu, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China, in 1985. The holotype (IVPP V7264) includes four neck vertebrae, seven back vertebrae, a block of five fused hip vertebrae, seven tail vertebrae, both upper arms, a partial leg and a pelvic girdle. The paratype consists of three teeth.
Egg hatching hoax
In early 2014, a website renowned for its spoof news reports released an article in which they claimed that a malfunction in the heating system at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin had accidentally created ideal incubation conditions and a 160 million year old Gasosaurus egg had actually hatched. Of course, it was a joke, but not everyone got it. Not this museum, nor any other, has a Gasosaurus egg. And even if they did, the chances of it hatching are less than zero. Still, the article went viral, and thousands of gullible folks made themselves look silly.
