Pronunciation: nan-SHUN-go-SOR-us
Meaning: Nanshiung lizard
Author/s: Dong (1979)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Guangdong, China
Discovery Chart Position: #267
Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus
Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus, discovered in China's Late Cretaceous Nanxiong Formation at Guangdong, is one of those freaky vegetarian theropods known as therizinosaurids.
At least, we think it is. The trademark therizinosaurid scythe-like claws and pot belly are merely assumptions because nothing of the ribs or limbs (or skull or tail) have been found, so analysis has focused solely on its vertebrae and an extremely robust pelvis: the reason why name-coining author Dong Zhiming thought its fossils belonged to a small, weird, titanosaurian sauropod. That misidentification rendered the original differentiae almost entirely useless, apart from one feature, potentially: opisthocoelous (hollowed at the rear and domed at the front) vertebrae are currently unknown in any other therizinosaurian.
A second species—Nanshiungosaurus bohlini, named in 1997 by Dong and You for its discoverer, Dr Bohlin—was found in an unnamed unit of the Xinminbao Group at Mazongshan, Gansu Province, China, during the Sino-Japanese Silk Road dinosaur expedition of 1992. The holotype (IVPP V.11116.) consists of eleven cervical (neck) vertebrae with fused ribs and five dorsal (back) vertebrae, with "unique" features that have since been found in some other therizinosaurs, but Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus isn't one of them. It may, in fact, be a distinct critter worthy of a new name or perhaps a synonym of Suzhousaurus megatherioides, which would then become Suzhousaurus bohlini.
A second species—Nanshiungosaurus bohlini, named in 1997 by Dong and You for its discoverer, Dr Bohlin—was found in an unnamed unit of the Xinminbao Group at Mazongshan, Gansu Province, China, during the Sino-Japanese Silk Road dinosaur expedition of 1992. The holotype (IVPP V.11116.) consists of eleven cervical (neck) vertebrae with fused ribs and five dorsal (back) vertebrae, with "unique" features that have since been found in some other therizinosaurs, but Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus isn't one of them. It may, in fact, be a distinct critter worthy of a new name or perhaps a synonym of Suzhousaurus megatherioides, which would then become Suzhousaurus bohlini.
(Short-spined Nanshiung lizard)Etymology
Nanshiungosaurus is derived from "Nanshiung" (the Latinised form of Nanxiong, where it was discovered) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, brevispinus, is derived from the Latin "brevis" (short) and "spina" (thorn), in reference to the short spines on its vertebrae.
Discovery
The first remains of Nanshiungosaurus were discovered in the
Nanxiong Formation at the village of Dapingcun, Shuikou Commune, Guangdong, China, in 1974.
The holotype (IVPP V4731, previously NIGP V.4731) consists of eleven cervical (neck), ten dorsal (back) and five sacral (hip) vertebrae, and a virtually complete pelvis missing only the right ilium and pubis. However, only the pelvis can be located in the IVPP collections, and it has been repaired with painted plaster in several areas after suffering postcollection damage.
