Heyuannia

Head reconstruction of Heyuannia huangi

• China ( Guangdong)

• Heyuannia huangi

Heyuannia was a theropod dinosaur from the group of Oviraptorosauria, who lived in the Upper Cretaceous of China. The only known type ( type species ) of the genus, Heyuannia huangi, was first described in 2003. Heyuannia had like other Oviraptorosaurier a short tail and a deep, toothless jaw, which was formed into a beak. Presumably it was a plant or omnivores. Within the Oviraptorosauria Heyuannia is counted among the Oviraptoridae.

Fund and naming

The findings come from a quarry near the village Huangsha in Heyuan in Guangdong province, China. Stratigraphically the late Cretaceous sediments of the discovery site for Dalangshan lineup are counted. The holotype material (catalog number HYMV1 -1 ) consists of a partial skeleton with skull material, the arms and the posterior caudal vertebrae are missing. Other bones are not counted to the holotype, but are probably still the same individual: HYMV1 -2 consists of an arm and the partial right shoulder belt HYMV1 -3 from incomplete right hand HYMV1 -4 from a partial hind leg and HYMV1 -5 of a left hand.

Heyuannia is named after the city of Heyuan, in whose area the fossil was discovered. The Artepitheth huangi honors Huang Dong, director of the museum, where the fossils are preserved.

Features

Heyuannia can be distinguished by various features ( autapomorphies ) of the skull and the rest of the skeleton of other genera; so for example, show the vertebral arches and ribs of the cervical vertebrae Foramia ( openings ). Heyuannia had more cervical and sacral vertebrae than any other Oviraptorosaurier, while the number of vertebrae was lower.