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Journal of Paleontology

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A REASSESSMENT OF DIANCHUNGOSAURUS LUFENGENSIS YANG, 1982a, AN ENIGMATIC REPTILE FROM THE LOWER LUFENG FORMATION (LOWER JURASSIC) OF YUNNAN PROVINCE, PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

¹ Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom, <P.Barrett{at}nhm.ac.uk>,
² Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China, <xingxu{at}vip.sina.com>

Dianchungosaurus lufengensis was erected on the basis of fragmentary isolated jaw elements (a left premaxilla and left and right partial lower jaws) from the Lower Lufeng Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Yunnan Province, China. Yang referred Dianchungosaurus to the Heterodontosauridae (Ornithischia, Ornithopoda), as several features appeared to indicate affinity with the southern African genus Heterodontosaurus. However, reexamination of the type material demonstrates that the holotype specimen of Dianchungosaurus represents a chimaera of prosauropod dinosaur and mesoeucrocodylian remains: the mesoeucrocodylian premaxilla is distinctive and allows the genus to be diagnosed on the basis of several autapomorphic features. Revision of this genus thereby invalidates the only reported occurrence of a heterodontosaurid dinosaur from Asia.