Genus
Valid Extinct

Sanpasaurus

Young 1944

Sanpasaurus is a poorly known sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Sichuan, China. The type species, S. yaoi, was described by Chung Chien Young, in 1944. The type remains, IVPP V.156, consists of 20 vertebrae, scapulae, forelimbs, and some hindlimb bones. Initially reported by Young as an ornithopod ornithischian, this specimen was unambiguously referred to Sauropoda in 2016 by McPhee et al., later refined to a basal gravisaurian position by Pol et al. in 2020 and 2022, closely related to Vulcanodon and Tazoudasaurus. Sanpasaurus is known from remains recovered from the Maanshan Member of the Ziliujing Formation.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
3
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Sanpasaurus
click to enlarge
Dorsal vertebra (IVPP V156AI) of Sanpasaurus. (A) Anterior view; (B) posterior view; (C) dorsal view; (D) left lateral view; (E) right lateral view. Abbreviations: cdf, centrodiapophyseal fossa; cpol, centropostzygapophyseal lamina; lar, lateral ridge; ms, midline septum; pp, parapophyses; prpl, prezygoparapophyseal lamina; prz, prezygapophyses; tprl, intraprezygapophyseal lamina. Scale bars equal 5 cm. Photographs by B.W.M. and C.S.overbite. © Blair W. McPhee​1,2, Paul Upchurch3, Philip D. Mannion4, Corwin Sullivan5, Richard J. Butler1,6, Paul M. Barrett1,7 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Saurischia Unranked clade
Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
Massopoda Unranked clade
Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
Sauropoda Unranked clade
Sanpasaurus Genus
Fossil sites 3 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
3
Geological formations
Ziliujing
3
Temporal distribution
Toarcian (184.2–174.7 Ma)
3
Species (1)
Sanpasaurus yaoi 184 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
C.-C. Young. 1944. On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 24(3–4):187-205 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
C.-C. Young. 1944. On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 24(3–4):187-205 DOI ↗