title: A new basal sauropodiform dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China.
abstract: The Lufeng Formation in Lufeng Basin of Yunnan Province, southwestern China preserves one of the richest terrestrial Lower Jurassic vertebrate faunas globally, especially for its basal sauropodomorphs, such as Lufengosaurus and Yunnanosaurus. Here we report a new taxon, Xingxiulong chengi gen. et sp. nov. represented by three partial skeletons with overlapping elements. Xingxiulong possesses a number of autapomorphies, such as transversely expanded plate-like summit on top of the neural spine of posterior dorsal vertebrae, four sacral vertebrae, robust scapula, and elongated pubic plate approximately 40% of the total length of the pubis. Phylogenetic analysis resolves Xingxiulong as a basal member of Sauropodiformes, and together with another two Lufeng basal sauropodiforms Jingshanosaurus and Yunnanosaurus, they represent the basalmost lineages of this clade, indicating its Asian origin. Although being relatively primitive, Xingxiulong displays some derived features normally occurred in advanced sauropodiforms including sauropods, such as a four sacral-sacrum, a robust scapula, and a pubis with elongated pubic plate. The discovery of Xingxiulong increases the diversity of basal sauropodomorphs from the Lufeng Formation and indicates a more complicated scenario in the early evolution of sauropodiforms.
authors.affiliation: School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ya-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing, 100044, P. R. China.|College of Earth Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Lu
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Land and Resources of Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, 651299, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002681:China; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification; D005580:Fossils / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010802:Phylogeny