Kingdom Animalia Clade Dinosauria Clade †Eusauropoda Rank Genus | Class Reptilia Suborder †Sauropodomorpha Phylum Chordata Order Saurischia | |
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Similar Bellusaurus, Barsboldia, Datousaurus, Arstanosaurus, Kelmayisaurus | ||
Klamelisaurus is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. It was similar to Bellusaurus, of which it may actually be an adult specimen and thus a junior synonym. It was found in the Gobi desert of Asia.
In 1982 at Kelamaili, north of Jiangjunmiao in the Junggar Basin of Xinjiang province, the remains were discovered of a sauropod.
The type species Klamelisaurus gobiensis was named and described by Zhao Xijin in 1993. The generic name refers to Kelamaili, of which "Klameli" is a spelling variant. The specific name refers to the Gobi.
The holotype, IVPP V9492, was found in a layer of the Shishugou Formation dating from the Oxfordian, about 160 million years old. It consists of a partial skeleton lacking the skull. The postcranial skeleton is rather complete, missing only the front part of the neck, the left shoulder girdle, the left forelimb and the feet. The quality of the bones was poor and deteriorated during preparation.
Klamelisaurus was a medium-sized sauropod. In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at fifteen metres, its weight at five tonnes, at the same time presuming it represented the adult form of Bellusaurus.
Zhao in 1993 established a single explicit autapomorphy: the upper end of the ulna is expanded.
In 1993 Klamelisaurus was assigned to the Bothrosauropodea. Zhao named a new subfamily, Klamelisaurinae, to include Klamelisaurus was the only member. It was considered of uncertain classification by Upchurch et al. (2004), possibly being a non-neosauropod eusauropod.