The postcranial skeleton of the iguanodontian ornithopod <i>Jinzhousaurus yangi</i> from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Non-hadrosaurid iguanodontians were the most diverse and abundant group of large-bodied herbivorous dinosaurs during the Early Cretaceous, and were a particularly important component of Laurasian ecosystems. Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in our knowledge of the diversity of this group, with multiple new taxa being described from northeast China. The most complete of these Chinese non-hadrosaurid iguanodontians is Jinzhousaurus yangi , from the middle part of the Yixian Formation (Lower Cretaceous: lower Aptian) of Liaoning Province. Here, we provide the first description of the relatively complete and partially articulated postcranial skeleton of the holotype of Jinzhousaurus , and provide detailed comparisons to closely related taxa. We document additional autapomorphies of Jinzhousaurus that provide strong support for the validity of this taxon.