Pronunciation: chow-yahng-SOR-us
Meaning: Chaoyang lizard
Author/s: Zhao, Cheng, Xu (1999)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Liaoning, China
Discovery Chart Position: #448
Chaoyangsaurus youngi
When Chaoyangsaurus was found in the Chaoyang area of Liaoning Province in northeastern China, it caught palaeontologists completely off guard.
Until that point, the only known ceratopsians hailed from the Cretaceous period. But Chaoyangsaurus is from the Jurassic, and as such, its features are pretty primitive.
Placed in Chaoyangsauridae along with Xuanhuaceratops, a hidden dragon (Yinlong) and what was previously thought to be a head-banger (Micropachycephalosaurus), Chaoyangsaurus had the tiniest frill and a hornless beaked face. At less than one metre long, the largest part of it is the list of misspellings attached to its name.
Chaoyangsaurus had been discussed by several sources before an official publication, beginning with "Chaoyoungosaurus", a transliteration issue in a guidebook accompanying a Japanese museum exhibit. Unfortunately, this is what Zhao Xijin based his scientific write-ups upon, so he got the name wrong too, twice: the second time adding the species name "liaosiensis".
With the Chaoyang area facing the prospect of being lumbered with a misspelt dinosaur, Zhao's legendary papers mysteriously disappeared. Dong sought to put things right in 1992 and amended the name to "Chaoyangosaurus", correctly replacing the previous 'ou' with 'a' but wrongly adding an extra "o". Again, no formal description of the dinosaur was attached, so again, the dinosaur was a nomen nudum and, according to the laws of palaeontology, it still didn't officially exist.
It wasn't until December 1999 that the combined efforts of Cheng, Zhao, and Xu managed to put together an official description that ticked all of the relevant boxes as they coined Chaoyangsaurus youngi in honour of Chung Chien Young, one of the few Chinese palaeontologists not involved in the whole naming debacle.
Placed in Chaoyangsauridae along with Xuanhuaceratops, a hidden dragon (Yinlong) and what was previously thought to be a head-banger (Micropachycephalosaurus), Chaoyangsaurus had the tiniest frill and a hornless beaked face. At less than one metre long, the largest part of it is the list of misspellings attached to its name.
Chaoyangsaurus had been discussed by several sources before an official publication, beginning with "Chaoyoungosaurus", a transliteration issue in a guidebook accompanying a Japanese museum exhibit. Unfortunately, this is what Zhao Xijin based his scientific write-ups upon, so he got the name wrong too, twice: the second time adding the species name "liaosiensis".
With the Chaoyang area facing the prospect of being lumbered with a misspelt dinosaur, Zhao's legendary papers mysteriously disappeared. Dong sought to put things right in 1992 and amended the name to "Chaoyangosaurus", correctly replacing the previous 'ou' with 'a' but wrongly adding an extra "o". Again, no formal description of the dinosaur was attached, so again, the dinosaur was a nomen nudum and, according to the laws of palaeontology, it still didn't officially exist.
It wasn't until December 1999 that the combined efforts of Cheng, Zhao, and Xu managed to put together an official description that ticked all of the relevant boxes as they coined Chaoyangsaurus youngi in honour of Chung Chien Young, one of the few Chinese palaeontologists not involved in the whole naming debacle.
(Young's Chaoyang lizard)Etymology
Chaoyangsaurus is derived from "Chaoyang" (its place of discovery) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, youngi, honours Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young.
Discovery
The remains of Chaoyangsaurus were discovered in the Tuchengzi Formation at Ershijiazi, Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, China, by Cheng Zhengwu in 1976. The holotype (IGCAGS V371) includes a partial skull and fragmentary partial skeleton.
