Tatisaurus

• China ( Asia)

• Tatisaurus oehleri ​​Simmons, 1965

Tatisaurus is a known only from sparse fossil record of the genus bird Beck dinosaurs.

Features and dating

So far, only a lower jaw with some worn teeth has been found. These were probably designed for a plant-based diet. Otherwise, nothing is known about this dinosaur.

The findings come from the Lufeng Formation in Yunnan Province, China, and were first described in 1965. They are dated to the Lower Jurassic in age 199-183 million years.

System

Since its discovery, the systematic classification of Tatisaurus was controversial. The describer Simmons saw him as a representative of Hypsilophodontidae, later studies, however, presented him to the Thyreophora, one by their bony scales and plates embossed dinosaur group, which include mainly the Stegosauria and Ankylosauria. Some researchers regarded him as a close relative of Huayangosaurus or Scelidosaurus, but these views are controversial.

For a reliable assignment but too little data is available, which is why Norman, Witmer and Weishampel lead him as " incertae sedis Thyreophora ".