Pronunciation: san-zee-uh-SOR-us
Meaning: Sanxia lizard
Author/s: Li et al. (2019)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Chongqing Municipality, China
Acta Ordinal: #1017
Sanxiasaurus modaoxiensis
(Sanxia Lizard from Modaoxi)Etymology
Sanxiasaurus combines the Chinese Pinyin "Sanxia" (the famous
Three Georges of the Yangtze River) with the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, modaoxiensis (mo-dow-shee-EN-sis), is derived from "Modaoxi" (a tributary of the Yangtze River, near which the holotype was found) and the Latin "-ensis" (from).
Discovery
The remains of Sanxiasaurus were discovered in the Xintiangou Formation at Laojun Village, Pu'an Township, Yunyang County, Chongqing Municipality, People's Republic of China, in 2016, by a field team from the No. 208 Hydrogeological and Engineering
Geological Team, Chongqing Bureau of Geological and Mineral Resource Exploration and Development.
The holotype (CLGPR V00003, housed in the Chongqing Laboratory of Geoheritage Protection and Research) is a partial skeleton consisting of 55 bones, including two neck vertebrae, eleven back vertebrae, four hip vertebrae, eighteen tail vertebrae, both arms, a partial pelvic girdle, both thighs and shins, a left calf, three foot bones, and four toe bones.
Preparators
Zhang Yu-Qing.
