Ruyangosaurus

Ruyangosaurus (Ruyang County lizard) is a genus of titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur recovered from the Early Cretaceous Haoling Formation of China. The type species is R. giganteus, described in 2009 by Lü Junchang et al.[1]

Ruyangosaurus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Aptian–Albian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Suborder:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropoda
Clade:	†Titanosauria
Genus:	†Ruyangosaurus Lu et al., 2009
Species
†R. giganteus Lu et al., 2009 (type)

Description

Size comparison

Along with Huanghetitan and Daxiatitan, Ruyangosaurus is among the largest dinosaurs discovered in Cretaceous Asia. In 2016 Gregory S. Paul gave a length of 30 meters (100 ft) and a weight of 50+ tonnes (55 short tons).[2] Ruyangosaurus was probably about 35 meters (115 ft) long, as evidenced by its 207 cm long femur and 127 cm long right tibia.[3] In 2020 Molina-Perez and Larramendi gave a lower estimation of 24.8 meters (81.4 ft) and 34 tonnes (37.5 short tons).[4]

Classification

Femur

Dorsal vertebrae

Tibia

The describers of Ruyangosaurus assigned it to Andesauridae.[1] However, Andesauridae is not monophyletic and, as such, is no longer used.[5]

The most comprehensive phylogenetic dataset to include Ruyangosaurus finds it to be in a polytomy with Andesaurus and other basal titanosaurs and near-titanosaur somphospondyls, supporting the original description's assertion of phylogenetic proximity of it and Andesaurus, though not the precise taxonomic assignment.[6][7]

Macronaria

Tehuelchesaurus       Janenschia     Haestasaurus           Camarasaurus       Aragosaurus       Galveosaurus   Titanosauriformes Brachiosauridae   Europasaurus       Vouivria       Brachiosaurus       Abydosaurus     Cedarosaurus     Giraffatitan     Lusotitan     Sonorasaurus     Venenosaurus           Somphospondyli Euhelopodidae     Euhelopus       Erketu     Gobititan           Qiaowanlong       Phuwiangosaurus     Tangvayosaurus               Paluxysaurus     Sauroposeidon           Cloverly titanosauriform     Padillasaurus       Dongbeititan     Ligabuesaurus             Tastavinsaurus       Angolatitan     Chubutisaurus           Andesaurus     Huanghetitan liujiaxianensis     Huanghetitan ruyangensis     Ruyangosaurus     Wintonotitan         Baotianmansaurus     Dongyangosaurus           Savannasaurus     Diamantinasaurus           Daxiatitan     Xianshanosaurus       Lithostrotia

However, not all phylogenetic analyses have supported its position as a somphospondyl. A smaller phylogenetic dataset found Ruyangosaurus to be a non-titanosauriform macronarian based on additional material from the type locality.[8]

Macronaria	Camarasaurus       Europasaurus       Yunmenglong     Ruyangosaurus     Titanosauriformes Brachiosauridae   Brachiosaurus     Giraffatitan     Abydosaurus     Paluxysaurus     Cedarosaurus     Somphospondyli   Euhelopus         Qiaowanlong     Erketu     Titanosauria   Andesaurus       Sonidosaurus       Bor Guvé titanosaur     Lithostrotia

Habitat

Ruyangosaurus shared its habitat with Xianshanosaurus, "Huanghetitan" ruyangensis, Yunmenglong, Luoyanggia, and Zhongyuansaurus. The type horizon of Ruyangosaurus was originally described as being of "early Late Cretaceous" age,[1] but recent work has assigned it an Aptian-Albian Age based on fieldwork and analysis of invertebrate and microfossil assemblages.[9]

See also

• List of dinosaurs
• 2009 in paleontology

References

1. Lü, J; Xu, L; Jia, S; Zhang, X; Zhang, J; Yang, L; You, H; Ji, Q (2009). "A new gigantic sauropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Ruyang, Henan, China". Geological Bulletin of China. 28 (1): 1–10.
2. Paul, Gregory S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs 2nd edition. Oxford: Princeton University Press. p. 231. ISBN 9780691167664.
3. Jinyou Mo, Jincheng Li, Yunchuan Ling, Eric Buffetaut, Suravech Suteethorn Varavud, Suteethorne Haiyan Tong, Gilles Cuny, Romain Amiot & Xing Xu (2020). New fossil remain of Fusuisaurus zhaoi (Sauropoda: Titanosauriformes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Guangxi, southern China. Cretaceous Research: 104379 (advance online publication). doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104379
4. Molina-Perez and Larramendi (2020). Dinosaur Facts and Figures: The Sauropods and Other Sauropodomorphs. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 261.
5. Mannion, Philip D.; Calvo, Jorge O. (2011). "Anatomy of the basal titanosaur (Dinosauria, Sauropoda) Andesaurus delgadoi from the mid-Cretaceous (Albian-early Cenomanian) Río Limay Formation, Neuquén Province, Argentina: implications for titanosaur systematics". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 163: 155–181. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00699.x.
6. Mannion, Philip D.; Allain, Ronan; Moine, Olivier (2017). "The earliest known titanosauriform sauropod dinosaur and the evolution of Brachiosauridae". PeerJ. 5: e3217. doi:10.7717/peerj.3217. PMC 5417094. PMID 28480136.
7. Royo-Torres, Rafael; Upchurch, Paul; Kirkland, James I.; DeBlieux, Donald D.; Foster, John R.; Cobos, Alberto; Alcalá, Luis (2017). "Descendants of the Jurassic turiasaurs from Iberia found refuge in the Early Cretaceous of western USA". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 14311. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14677-2. PMC 5662694. PMID 29085006.
8. Lü, Junchang; Pu, Hanyong; Xu, Li; Jia, Songhai; Zhang, Jiming; Shen, Caizhi (2014). Osteology of the giant sauropod dinosaur Ruyangosaurus giganteus Lü et al., 2009. Beijing: Geological Publishing House. ISBN 978-7-116-09074-3.
9. Xu, L., Pan, Z.C., Wang, Z.H., Zhang, X.L., Jia, S.H., Lü, J.C., Jiang, B.L., 2012. Discovery and significance of the Cretaceous system in Ruyang Basin, Henan Province. Geological Review 58, 601-613.