JURASSIC DINOSAUR FAUNAS IN ZIGONG - 自贡恐龙博物馆

sauropod was mounted a low, flat diplodocid-like skull with rod-like teeth. A complete articulated
skeleton with a beautifully preserved skull of M. youngi from the Late Jurassic of Xinmin,
Zigong shows that Mamenchisaurus should have a narrow, deep and light-built skull with large
cranial openings and densely arranged spoon-shaped teeth. According to this, the authors
suggested that like Mamenchisaurus, the long necked Omeisaurus also should have a small
light-built skull rather than a heavy built one of an earlier suggestion.
6. The dinosaurian skin was soft tissue and hard to preserved as fossil. Its impression would
accasionally preserved under a special condition. So skin impressions very rare. To date there are
only several samples of dinosaurian skin impressions found in the world. The skin impression of
Gigantspinosaurus sichuanensis from the Late Jurassic of Zhongquan, Zigong was the first
sample of stegosaurian skin impression in the world. The skin impression of Mamenchisaurus
youngi from the Late Jurassic of Xinmin, Zigong was the first sample of sauropod skin
impression found in China and one of few samples of sauropod skin impressions in the world.
These dinosaurian skin impressions show that the bodies of stegosaurs and sauropods covered
with small, polygonal scales rather than smooth surface.
7. It was generally suggested that a pair of special comma-shaped spines were appended on
the ilia of the sacrum and named as “parasacral spines”. However, both spines of
Gigantspinosaurus sichuanensis from Zhongquan, Zigong were articulately preserved on the
shoulders. It was proved that this kind of spines is parascapular spines appended on the scapulae
rather than parasacral spines appended on the ilia. They mainly protected the naked belly.
8. Twenty or more years ago, it was generally considered that labyrinthodont amphibians
disappeared before the end of the Late Triassic and do not survived to the Jurassic. The discovery
of Sinobrachyops placenticephalus in the early of the eighties last century from the Middle
Jurassic of Dashanpu, Zigong evidenced first time that labyrinthodont amphibians survived to the
Middle Jurassic. After that, a series of discovery from Xinjiang, China and Queensland, Australia
further evidenced that labyrinthodont amphibians survived to the Late Jurassic, and probably to
the Early Cretaceous.