An incomplete specimen of Sinosauropteryx prima collected from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of the Dawangzhangzi area in Lingyuan, western Liaoning is depicted. It represents the first systematically described material of this feathered compsognathid outside the Sihetun area in Beipiao. This specimen shows some diagnostic features of Sinosauropteryx prima, such as the very short forelimb in relation to hindlimb with the length ratio of humerus plus radius to femur plus tibia just around 30%, and the long and massive first manual ungual subequal in length to radius. The presence of Sinosauropteryx prima only at Sihetun and Dawangzhangzi supports the suggestion that the fossil-bearing beds in the Sihetun and Dawangzhangzi areas are equivalent to each other within the Yixian Formation.
JI Shu＇anGAO ChunlingLIU JinyuanMENG QingjinJI Qiang
A new compsognathid dinosaur, Sinocalliopteryx gigas gen. et sp. nov., is erected based on a complete skeleton from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning, northeastern China. It shares the features with Huaxiagnathus orientalis in having a manus as long as the humerus plus radius, very large and subequally long manual claws I and II, and reduced olecranon process on the ulna. But it differs from Huaxiagnathus orientalis in having the much large size, a very long maxillary process of premaxilla not extending the vertical level of the maxillary antorbital fossa, and the proportionally longer ulna and so on. Sinocalliopteryx gigas gen. et sp. nov. represents the largest species among the known compsognathid dinosaurs, suggesting the tendency of the body enlargement in compsognathids to some extent. The long filamentous integuments are attached to the whole body of this compsognathid, confirming that such integuments evolved firstly in the basal coelurosaurs. This new giant compsognathid was a fierce carnivorous theropod, as shown further by an incomplete dromaeosaurid leg inside its abdominal cavity.
The structure and orientation of the posterior extremity (tail club) of the caudal vertebrae of Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis Young and Chao, 1972 from the Upper Jurassic Shangshaximiao Formation has been analyzed to determine the tail club function using Finite Element Analysis. Of the four caudal vertebrae composing the tail club, the second largest (C"1") was probably the most proximal, and is fixed with the preceding sequence of the caudal vertebrae, whereas the smallest (C"4") is free and forms the termination of the tail club. Our analysis also suggests that the tail club is more efficient in lateral swinging rather than up-and-down motion, and that the best region for the tail club to impact is at the spine of the largest of the four caudals (C"2"), with a maximum load for impact at about 450 N. The tail club of Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis probably also had limitations as a defense weapon and was more possibly a sensory organ to improve nerve conduction velocity to enhance the capacity for sensory perception of its surroundings.
