Zuolong


Zuolong is a genus of coelurosaur dinosaur which existed in what is now Wucaiwan, Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China during the Late Jurassic period.

Discovery

The holotype fossil of Zuolong, IVPP V15912, a partial skeleton with skull, was discovered in 2001 in China, in the upper part of the Shishugou Formation of Xinjiang. It was a subadult animal which measured approximately in length and weighed up to approximately. Zuolong was named by Jonah N. Choiniere, James M. Clark, Catherine A. Forster and Xu Xing in 2010, and the type species is Zuolong salleei. The generic name honours General Zuo Zongtang, who secured Xinjiang for China in the nineteenth century. The specific name honours Hilmar Sallee, whose bequest helped finance the research. The specific age for the holotype specimen is 161.2 to 155.2 million years ago. The holotype is considered by Thomas R. Holtz Jr. to be from almost certainly a juvenile theropod.

Description

In 2016, Gregory S. Paul estimated the length of Zuolong at, and its weight at 60 kilogrammes. The specimen is probably from a juvenile animal, and is quite complete.

Classification

Zuolong is a primitive coelurosaurian, possibly the most primitive known. In 2019 it was found to be a member of Tyrannoraptora in a polytomy with Tyrannosauroidea and Maniraptoromorpha.