Bellusaurus

Bellusaurus (meaning "Beautiful lizard", from Vulgar Latin bellus 'beautiful' (masculine form) and Ancient Greek sauros 'lizard') was a small short-necked sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) which measured about 4.8 m long. Its fossils were found in Shishugou Formation rocks in the northeastern Junggar Basin in China.

Discovery and naming
The type and only known species is Bellusaurus sui, formally described by Dong Zhiming in 1991. The remains of Bellusaurus were found in the Shishugou Formation in the northeastern Junggar Basin in China. Seventeen individuals were found in a single quarry, suggesting that a herd had been killed in a flash flood. Some features suggest they may have all been juveniles. Bellusaurus sui was derived from the Latin bellus meaning small, delicate, and beautiful, as these sauropods were small and lightly built. The specific name, sui, was named in honor of Senior Preparator Youling Sui, a notable restorer of dinosaur remains. Bellusaurus was the last restoration undertaken by Mr. Sui.

Fossil record
Bellusaurus sui is known from a large amount of disarticulated material of juvenile individuals.

Description


The length of Bellusaurus has been estimated to be 4.8 m, although this is based on juvenile individuals.

Classification
Bellusaurus was originally placed in the Brachiosauridae by Dong. More recent phylogenetic analyses have recovered Bellusaurus outside Neosauropoda or near the base of Macronaria. In 2023, a study proposed that Bellusaurus is a mamenchisaurid.