imported>IJReid: − 5 categories; + 6 categories using HotCat

2025-05-06T05:22:49Z

− 5 categories; + 6 categories using HotCat

New page

{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}}
{{Speciesbox
| fossil_range = [[Late Cretaceous]], {{fossil range|66.7|66}}
| taxon = Microhadrosaurus nanshiungensis
| authority = [[Dong Zhiming|Dong]], 1979
}}

'''''Microhadrosaurus''''' (meaning "small sturdy lizard" in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]]) is a [[genus]] of [[hadrosauridae|hadrosaurid]] [[dinosaur]] from the [[Campanian]] or [[Maastrichtian]]-age [[Upper Cretaceous]] Yuanpu Formation (also known as the [[Nanxiong Formation]]) of [[Guangdong]], [[People's Republic of China|China]]. Although its name identifies it as a small hadrosaur, it is based on [[juvenile (organism)|juvenile]] remains, and the size of the adult hadrosaur is unknown.

==Description==
[[Dong Zhiming]] named this genus for [[Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology|IVPP]] V4732, a partial [[dentary|lower jaw]] from a juvenile hadrosaur. This partial bone, with 18 columns of stacked [[tooth|teeth]] in a typical hadrosaur tooth battery, measures 37 centimeters long (15 inches).<ref name=DZ79>{{cite book |author=Dong Zhiming |author-link=Dong Zhiming |title=Mesozoic and Cenozoic Red Beds of South China |year=1979 |publisher=Science Press |location=Nanxiong, China |language=zh |pages=342–350 |chapter=The Cretaceous dinosaur fossils in southern China }}</ref> Dong later estimated the length of the individual at 2.6 meters (8.5 feet).<ref name=DZ87>{{cite book |author=Dong Zhiming |author-link=Dong Zhiming |title=Dinosaurs from China |year=1987 |publisher=China Ocean Press |location=Beijing |isbn=0-565-01073-5 |pages=1–114 }}</ref>

==History==
Dong regarded this genus as much like ''[[Edmontosaurus]]'', albeit in tiny form.<ref name=DZ79/> However, Michael K. Brett-Surman, a hadrosaur specialist, regarded the material as showing no characteristics that would allow it to be differentiated from other duckbills.<ref name=MKBS89>{{cite book |last=Brett-Surman |first=Michael K. |title=A revision of the Hadrosauridae (Reptilia:Ornithischia) and their evolution during the Campanian and Maastrichtian. Ph.D. dissertation |year=1989 |publisher=Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of The George Washington University |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=1–272}}</ref> The most recent review accepts Brett-Surman's position, and regards ''Microhadrosaurus'' as a [[nomen dubium|dubious]] name.<ref name=HWF04>{{cite book |last=Horner |first=John R. |author-link=Jack Horner (paleontologist) |author2=Weishampel, David B. |author3= Forster, Catherine A |editor=Weishampel, David B. |editor2=Dodson, Peter |editor3=Osmólska, Halszka |title=The Dinosauria |edition=2nd |year= 2004|publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |pages=438–463 |chapter=Hadrosauridae }}</ref>

==Paleobiology==
As a hadrosaurid, ''Microhadrosaurus'' would have been a [[bipedalism|bipedal]]/[[quadruped]]al [[herbivore]], eating [[plant]]s with a sophisticated skull that permitted a grinding motion analogous to [[mastication|chewing]], and was furnished with hundreds of continually-replaced teeth.<ref name=HWF04/> Because it is only known from a partial jaw from a juvenile, little more than general information can be drawn from it at this point.

==Paleoecology==
===Fauna and habitat===
The [[Nanxiong Formation]] consists of a 2000-meter sequence of red sandstones and clays which has yielded dinosaur fossils, dinosaur footprints and abundant egg shells.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nanxiong Formation|url=http://www.dinodata.org/index.php/dinosaursa/fs/2845-nanxiong-formation-guandong-china|access-date=29 September 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810153818/http://www.dinodata.org/index.php/dinosaursa/fs/2845-nanxiong-formation-guandong-china|archive-date=10 August 2014}}</ref> ''Microhadrosaurus'' shared its [[natural environment|paleoenvironment]] with the [[sauropod]] ''[[Gannansaurus]]'', the [[therizinosauroid]] ''[[Nanshiungosaurus]]'', the [[tyrannosaurid]] ''[[Qianzhousaurus]]'' and the [[oviraptorid]]s ''[[Banji]]'', ''[[Jiangxisaurus]]'', ''[[Corythoraptor]]'', ''[[Ganzhousaurus]]'', ''[[Huanansaurus]]'', ''[[Nankangia]]'' and ''[[Tongtianlong]]''.

==See also==
{{Portal|Dinosaurs}}
* [[Timeline of hadrosaur research]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Ornithopoda|D.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q988563}}

[[Category:Hadrosauridae]]
[[Category:Dinosaur genera]]
[[Category:Maastrichtian dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Dong Zhiming]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1979]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs of China]]

Microhadrosaurus - Revision history

imported>IJReid: − 5 categories; + 6 categories using HotCat