Kingdom Animalia Superorder Dinosauria Infraorder Sauropoda Scientific name Dashanpusaurus dongi Rank Genus | Class Sauropsida Suborder Sauropodomorpha Family Camarasauridae Phylum Chordata Order Saurischia | |
Similar Bienosaurus, Bainoceratops, Datousaurus, Hexinlusaurus, Asiaceratops | ||
Dashanpusaurus (meaning "Dashanpu lizard" after the township it was discovered in) is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the middle of the Jurassic period. The dinosaur was described in 2005 by a group of Chinese paleontologists. The dinosaur's binomial name, Dashanpusaurus dongi, was named after a dinosaur expert of the Dashanpu area, Dong Zhiming.
Dashanpusaurus was a herbivore and was quadrupedal, like most others in the Sauropoda infraorder. The Dashanpusaurus holotype was unearthed in the Sichuan, China township of Dashanpu, in a Jurassic formation called the Shaximiao Formation, which in turn is part of the larger Dashanpu Formation. Dashanpu is only seven kilometres from Zigong, the city where the dinosaur's remains are being held. It consisted of a many bone fragments and vertebrae, as well as a partial pelvis and other hind pieces. Other than the dinosaur's holotype, numerous other Dashanpusaurus specimens have been recovered from the area.