ISANOSAURUS
an archaic sauropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic of Thailand.
Pronunciation: ee-SAH-no-SOR-us
Meaning: Isan lizard
Author/s: Buffetaut
et al. (
2000)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Chaiyaphum, Thailand
Discovery Chart Position: #476
Isanosaurus attavipachi
Etymology
Isanosaurus is derived from "Isan" (a local name for northeastern Thailand) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The
species epithet,
attavipachi (uh-tah-vee-PAH-chie), is named in honor of Mr. Pricha Attavipach, former Director General of the Thai Department of Mineral Resources and a longtime supporter of paleontological research.
Discovery
The remains of
Isanosaurus were discovered in the Nam Phong Formation at PhuNok Khian hill near the village of Ban Non Thaworn, Chaiyaphum Province, on the Khorat Plateau of northeastern Thailand, in 1998.
The
holotype (CH4) is a neck vertebra, one back vertebra, six tail vertebrae, two chevrons, some fragmentary ribs, the right sternal plate, the right shoulder blade, and the left thigh bone.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Triassic
Stage: Norian-Rhaetian
Age range: 227-201 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 13 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: 7 tons
Diet: Herbivore
References
• Buffetaut E, Suteethorn V, Cuny G, Tong H, Le Loeuff J, Khansubha S and Jongautchariyakul S (2000) "The earliest known sauropod dinosaur".
Nature. 407 (6800): 72-74.
• Buffetaut E, Suteethorn V, Le Loeuff J, Cuny G, Tong H and Khansubha S (2002) "A Review of the Sauropod Dinosaurs of Thailand".
The Symposium on Geology of Thailand, 26-31 August, Bangkok.
• Yates AM and Kitching JW (2003) "The earliest known sauropod dinosaur and the first steps towards sauropod locomotion".
Proc. of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 270: 1753-1758.
• Paul GS (2010) "
The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs".
Princeton University Press. Page 171.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
ISANOSAURUS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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