Shunosaurus

Chatterjee, Sankar & Zheng, Zhong, 2002, Cranial anatomy of Shunosaurus, a basal sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136 (1), pp. 145-169 : 151

DESCRIPTION OF SHUNOSAURUS

The following description and interpretation of the cranial anatomy are primarily based on ZG65430. The specimen is nearly complete, beautifully preserved, but somewhat disarticulated. The main block contains the caudal part of the skull roof, braincase and left quadrate in articulation. The premaxillae, maxillae, palatal bones, and dentaries remain separate. Missing bones include nasals and caudal part of the lower jaws. These are supplemented by T5401. The skull is 495 mm long, 170 mm wide and 218 mm high, with a tapering snout. The assortment of disarticulated elements and fusion of some skull bones indicates that the animal was a subadult individual ( Fig. 5 ). See Appendix for list of abbreviations used in the figures.

Figures

Figure 5. Restoration of the skull of Shunosaurus lii (ZG65430). A, lateral view. B, occipital view.