Koreanosaurus | |
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Fossil holotype | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | † Ornithischia |
Family: | † Thescelosauridae |
Subfamily: | † Orodrominae |
Genus: | †
Koreanosaurus Huh et al., 2011 |
Species: | †K. boseongensis
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Binomial name | |
†Koreanosaurus boseongensis Huh et al., 2011
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Koreanosaurus ( lit. ' Korean lizard') is a genus of orodromine neornithischian dinosaur. One species has been described, Koreanosaurus boseongensis.
In 2003, three specimens of Koreanosaurus were found in the Late Cretaceous-age Seonso Conglomerate from the southern coast of the Bibong-ri dinosaur egg site, Boseong, Korean Peninsula. [2] These specimens include the holotype KDRC-BB2, a partial upper skeleton lacking the skull, and two additional specimens which contains portions of the pelvic girdle and lower leg (KDRC-BB1 and KDRC-BB3). [3] The type species was named after its locality ( Boseong site 5). This taxon was initially named and described in a master's thesis by Dae-Gil Lee in 2008, [4] and was officially published by Min Huh, Dae-Gil Lee, Jung-Kyun Kim, Jong-Deock Lim and Pascal Godefroit in 2011. [3]
Koreanosaurus was a relatively small dinosaur, reaching 2–2.4 meters (6.6–7.9 ft) in body length. [5] [6] Based on its taxonomic position and the existence of small burrows from the Seonso Conglomerate, Koreanosaurus is likely a burrowing dinosaur. [3] Unlike its orodromine relatives, Koreanosaurus is assumed to have been a quadruped. [7]
Koreanosaurus was considered to be a basal member of the Ornithopoda by the authors, forming a clade with Zephyrosaurus schaffi, Orodromeus makelai and Oryctodromeus cubicularis from which they deduced a burrowing lifestyle. [3] Han et al. found it plausible that Koreanosaurus might be a member of Jeholosauridae or closely related to it. [8]
Winter 2011 Appendix