View source for Gannansaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of dinosaurs}}
{{speciesbox
| fossil_range = [[Late Cretaceous]], {{fossil range|66.7|66}}
| image = Gannansaurus.png
| image_caption = Skeletal restoration of ''Gannansaurus sinensis''.
| genus = Gannansaurus
| parent_authority = [[Junchang Lü|Lü]] ''et al.'', [[2013 in paleontology|2013]]
| species = sinensis
| authority = Lü ''et al.'', 2013
}}

'''''Gannansaurus''''' (meaning "[[Ganzhou|Gannan]] lizard") is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[somphospondyli|somphospondyl]]an [[sauropod]] [[dinosaur]] known from the latest [[Cretaceous]] [[Nanxiong Formation]] of [[Ganzhou Basin]], [[Jiangxi Province]] of southern [[China]]. It is known from specimen GMNH F10001 which consists of a single, nearly complete [[thoracic vertebrae|dorsal vertebra]] and a mid-[[caudal vertebra]]. ''Gannansaurus'' was first named by [[Lü Junchang]], Yi Laiping, Zhong Hui and Wei Xuefang in [[2013 in paleontology|2013]] and the [[type species]] is '''''Gannansaurus sinensis'''''. ''Gannansaurus'' shares some characters with ''[[Euhelopus]]'', indicating that it is more closely related to it rather than to other [[titanosauriform]]s.<ref name="Lü2013"/>

==History of discovery==

The type specimen was collected from a construction site near Longling Town in [[Ganzhou]], China. Most of the specimen was destroyed as a result of the construction work, but one dorsal vertebra was able to be pieced back together from fragments. A caudal vertebra was also saved. The two vertebrae are stored at the Ganzhou Museum of Natural History with the catalog number GMNH F10001. In [[2013 in paleontology|2013]], [[Lü Junchang]], Yi Laiping, Zhong Hui and Wei Xuefang described the remains as a new genus and species of sauropod, ''Gannansaurus sinensis''. The genus name refers to the Gannan district of Ganzhou, where the specimens were found, and the species name refers to the specimens being found in China. The two vertebrae are assumed to represent the same individual based on their recovery from the same quarry.<ref name="Lü2013"/>

==Classification==

In their original description of ''Gannansaurus'', Lü and colleagues suggested that it was closely related to ''[[Euhelopus]]'', on the basis of a K-shaped arrangement of vertebral laminae uniquely shared by the two taxa.<ref name="Lü2013"/> ''Gannansaurus'' was included in a phylogenetic analysis by Mo and colleagues in 2023, and was recovered as a basal [[titanosauriform]].<ref name="Mo2023"/>

==Paleoecology==

[[File:GannanosaurusScale.png|thumb|left|Size estimation of Gannansaurus compared to human]]

The ecosystem preserved in the Nanxiong Formation contained at least one other sauropod, ''[[Jiangxititan]]''.<ref name="Mo2023"/> The top predator of the ecosystem was the [[tyrannosaurid]] ''[[Qianzhousaurus]]''.<ref name="Lü2014"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Lü2013">{{Cite journal|author1=Junchang Lü |author2=Laiping Yi |author3=Hui Zhong |author4=Xuefang Wei |year=2013 |title=A New Somphospondylan Sauropod (Dinosauria, Titanosauriformes) from the Late Cretaceous of Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province of Southern China |journal=Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) |volume=87 |issue=3 |pages=678–685 |url=http://www.geojournals.cn/dzxben/ch/reader/view_abstract.aspx?file_no=201303005&flag=1 |doi=10.1111/1755-6724.12079}}</ref>
<ref name="Lü2014">{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1038/ncomms4788| issn = 2041-1723| volume = 5| issue = 1| pages = 3788| last1 = Lü| first1 = Junchang| last2 = Yi| first2 = Laiping| last3 = Brusatte| first3 = Stephen L.| last4 = Yang| first4 = Ling| last5 = Li| first5 = Hua| last6 = Chen| first6 = Liu| title = A new clade of Asian Late Cretaceous long-snouted tyrannosaurids| journal = Nature Communications| date = 2014}}</ref>
<ref name="Mo2023">{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/08912963.2023.2259413| issn = 0891-2963 | eissn = 1029-2381| last1 = Mo| first1 = Jin-You| last2 = Fu| first2 = Qiong-Yao| last3 = Yu| first3 = Yi-Lun| last4 = Xu| first4 = Xing| title = A new titanosaurian sauropod from the Upper Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, southern China| journal = Historical Biology| date = 2023-09-21| doi-access = free}}</ref>
}}
{{Portal|Paleontology}}
{{Sauropodomorpha|M.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q13600078}}

[[Category:Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of Asia]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 2013]]
[[Category:Macronarians]]
[[Category:Paleontology in Jiangxi]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Lü Junchang]]
[[Category:Ganzhou]]