First dinosaur from the Shan–Thai Block of SE Asia: a Jurassic sauropod from the southern peninsula of Thailand

Abstract

A vertebra collected from the Jurassic non-marine Khlong Min Formation of southern Thailand is referred to the family Euhelopodidae, a group of sauropod dinosaurs that apparently was endemic to eastern Asia during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, at a time when that part of the world was isolated from other land masses. The occurrence of a euhelopodid in the Jurassic of the Shan–Thai Block supports the idea of a collision of the Shan–Thai Block with the Indochina Block, thus establishing connections with ‘mainland Asia’, early in the Mesozoic, probably before the Jurassic.

Dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Murtoi Formation in Buryatia, eastern Russia

“…Remarks.-The family Mamenchisauridae was erected by Young and Zhao (1972) to include the genus Mamenchi− saurus. It was generally considered as a junior synonym of the family Euhelopodidae Romer, 1956(= Helopodidae Wiman, 1929, which included most of the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Chinese sauropod taxa, such as Euhelopus, Omei− saurus, and Mamenchisaurus (He et al 1988;Upchurch 1995Upchurch , 1998Buffetaut et al 2005). A recent phylogenetic analysis by Wilson and Upchurch (2009) concludes that Euhelopus be− longs to the Titanosauriformes (see also Wilson andSereno 1998 andWilson 2002).…”

“…Dong et al 1983;He et al 1988;Upchurch 1995Upchurch , 1998Martin−Rolland 1999;Buffetaut et al 2002Buffetaut et al , 2005Upchurch et al 2004a), Wilson (2002) erected the family Omeisauridae to name a node including Omeisaurus and Mamenchisaurus. We consider Omeisauridae (Wilson 2002) as a junior synonym of Ma− menchisauridae Young andZhao, 1972.…”

“…Fossils are known from the Phu Kradung Formation on the Khorat Plateau of the Indochina Block (Buffetaut and Ingavat 1980;Suteethorn 1998a, 2007;Buffetaut et al 2001;Tong et al 2006) and the Khlong Min Formation on the Shan−Thai Block (Buffetaut et al , 2005Tong et al 2002). Although the age of the Phu Kradung Formation is controversial, its vertebrate fauna is similar to those from the Late Jurassic of China .…”

“…Although the age of the Phu Kradung Formation is controversial, its vertebrate fauna is similar to those from the Late Jurassic of China . Previously known informative sauropod material consists of isolated teeth from the Phu Kradung Formation (Buffetaut and Suteethorn 1998a) and a vertebra from the Khlong Min For− mation (Buffetaut et al 2005). They were interpreted as euhe− lopodids, but the validity of this family has recently been chal− lenged (Wilson and Sereno 1998;Wilson 2002;Canudo et al 2002;Wilson and Upchurch 2009).…”

Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic continental ecosystems of SE Asia: an introduction

“…Both plant and animal remains are known from some of these formations. The Khlong Min Formation, which is probably Middle to Late Jurassic in age, has yielded a diverse vertebrate assemblage (Buffetaut et al 1994b) including sharks, bony fishes, temnospondyl amphibians, turtles, crocodiles and dinosaurs (Buffetaut et al 2005b). It also contains plant remains, including amber (Philippe et al 2005).…”