1Chongqing Laboratory of Geoheritage Protection and Research, No. 208 Hydrogeological and Engineering Geological Team, Chongqing Bureau of Geological and Mineral Resource Exploration and Development, Chongqing 400700, China; 2Zigong Dinosaur Museum, Zigong 643000, Sichuan Province, China; 3Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing 100037, China; 4China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China; 5Cores and Samples Centre of Natural Resources, Chinese Geological Survey, Beijing 100192, China
Sichuan Basin is very famous for the Mesozoic reptiles, especially the Jurassic dinosaurs. Here, we report some isolated plesiosaurian teeth and vertebrae newly excavated from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation in Yunyang county, Chongqing City, the northeastern region of the Sichuan Basin, southwestern China. The specimens are referred to Pliosauroidea based on the combination of the following features: the circular cross-section of the tooth crown, apicobasal ridges fully covering the enamel surface and reaching to the apex, the short and amphicoelous centrum, the centrum shorter than wide or tall, and the absence of a keel on the lateral surface of the cervical centrum. With the fragmentary nature, it is undetermined whether the Yunyang specimens belong to a known taxon or represent a new species of Plesiosauria. These plesiosaurian specimens further demonstrate that the freshwater plesiosaurians are common in the Jurassic deposits of the Sichuan Basin. For a comprehensive knowledge of the plesiosaurians of the basin in origin, distribution and diversity, to discover new and more complete specimens is necessarily the first priority.
. New freshwater plesiosaurian materials from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of the Sichuan Basin, southwestern China[J]. Journal of Palaeogeography, 2020, 9(4): 469-479.
. New freshwater plesiosaurian materials from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of the Sichuan Basin, southwestern China[J]. Journal of Palaeogeography, 2020, 9(4): 469-479.
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