Shanxia

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title: "Shanxia" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ankylosaurinae", "dinosaur-genera", "late-cretaceous-dinosaurs", "taxa-named-by-hailu-you", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1998", "dinosaurs-of-china"] description: "Extinct genus of dinosaurs" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanxia" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of dinosaurs ::

| name = Shanxia | fossil_range = Late Cretaceous, | display_parents = 3 | genus = Shanxia | parent_authority = Barrett et al., 1998 | species = tianzhenensis | authority = Barrett et al., 1998

Shanxia (named after the Shanxi Province) is a monospecific genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Shanxi Province that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Campanian, ~99-71 Ma) in what is now the Huiquanpu Formation. Shanxia may possibly represent a junior synonym of Tianzhenosaurus, an ankylosaurine also known from the Huiquanpu Formation of China.

Discovery and naming

In 1993, Messrs. Lu and Li of the Hebei Geological Survey discovered a partial ankylosaurid skeleton at a locality in the Shanxi Province and notified staff of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, who collected the material later that year. The specimen was specifically obtained from the Huiquanpu Formation and is currently housed at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing.

The generic name, Shanxia, refers to the Shanxi Province which is where the holotype was recovered from. The specific name, tianzhenensis, refers to the Tian Zhen County.

In 1999, Sullivan considered Shanxia as a nomen dubium and as a possible junior syonynm of Tianzhenosaurus. Sullivan noted that the only diagnosable characteristic, the unique shape of the squamosal horn, of Shanxia is known to be variable within a single taxon such as Euoplocephalus. Sullivan also noted that due to the presence of two ankylosaurids in the Huiquanpu Formation, they were likely to represent the same taxon. However, Upchurch & Barrett, 2000 considered Shanxia as a valid taxon based on at least on autapomorphy or diagnostic trait.

Description

Due to the fragmentary nature of the holotype specimen, not much information is known about the exact size and appearance of Shanxia.

Barrett et al., 1998 distinguished Shanxia from all other ankylosaurids based on the morphology of the squamosal horns. It was noted that the squamosal horns were slender and elongate, inclined at an angle, having a narrow junction with the skull roof in occipital view, and shaped like isosceles triangles in dorsal view. An isolated quadratojugal was tentatively assigned to Shanxia and shares similar features to Euoplocephalus. The quadratojugal was described as sub-triangular in shape and generally similar to the quadratojugal horns of other ankylosaurids. Upchurch and Barrett, 2000 established two more additional distinguishing characteristics of Shanxia that differentiate it from other ankylosaurids, including Saichania, which include the absence of a large processus medialis humeri and a pair of large domed sub-rectangular osteoderms on the skull. However, similar ossifications are present in Tianzhenosaurus. The holotype specimen only preserves one osteoderm, which has been described as oval in outline, sub-triangular in cross-section, excavated ventrally and has a prominent dorsal keel.

Barrett et al., 1998 noted that the holotype specimen preserves a possible synapomorphy with nodosaurids, the hemispherical occipital condyle is oval to subcircular in posterior view and offset from the braincase by a distinct 'neck'. However, they did state that some caution is needed in the interpretation of the synapomorphy as the shape of the occipital condyle is not entirely clear and may be primitive for Ankylosauria as the feature is also present in Tarchia, Talarurus, and Maleevus.

Classification

Barrett et al. (1998) originally considered Shanxia as an ankylosaurid with unknown affiliations, but Sullivan (1999) considered Shanxia as a nomen dubium, and possibly synonymous with the ankylosaurid Tianzhenosaurus, arguing that the unique shape of the squamosal horns could be a product of individual variation. A 2018 study by Wiersma and Irmis considered Shanxia as a valid taxon, and sister taxon to Tarchia kielanae and Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani.

A phylogenetic analysis conducted by Thompson et al., 2012 is reproduced below. |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=Huayangosaurus taibaii |2=Stegosaurus armatus }} |2={{clade |1=Nodosauridae |label2=Ankylosauridae |2={{clade |1=Minmi paravertebra |2={{clade |1=Liaoningosaurus paradoxus |2={{clade |1=Cedarpelta bilbeyhallorum |2={{clade |1=Gobisaurus domoculus |2={{clade |1=Shamosaurus scutatus |2={{clade |1=Zhongyuansaurus luoyangensis |2=Tsagantegia longicranialis |3={{clade |1={{clade |1=Shanxia tianzhenensis |2={{clade |1="Crichtonsaurus" benxiensis |2={{clade |1=Dyoplosaurus acutosquameus |2=Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus }} }} }} |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Ankylosaurus magniventris |2=Euoplocephalus tutus }} |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani |2=Pinacosaurus grangeri }} |2={{clade |1=Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=Talarurus plicatospineus |2=Tianzhenosaurus youngi }} |2={{clade |1=Saichania chulsanensis |2=Tarchia gigantea }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

Paleoenvironment

The holotype specimen of Shanxia was recovered from the Huiquanpu Formation, which possibly dates to the Cenomanian or Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. the ornithopod Datonglong, the tyrannosauroid Jinbeisaurus and the ankylosaurid Tianzhenosaurus.

References

References

1. (1998). "A new ankylosaurian dinosaur (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
2. Sullivan, R.. (1999). "''Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis'', gen et sp nov., a new ankylosaurid dinosaur (Ornithischia; Ankylosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Kirtland Formation (Upper Campanian), San Juan Basin, New Mexico". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
3. (2000). "The taxonomic status of ''Shanxia tianzhenensis'' (Ornithiscia, Ankylosauridae); a response to Sullivan (1999)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
4. (2015). "Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
5. (2018). "A new southern Laramidian ankylosaurid, ''Akainacephalus johnsoni'' gen. et sp. nov., from the upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah, USA". PeerJ.
6. (2016). "A new hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Tianzhen, Shanxi Province, China". Vertebrata PalAsiatica.
7. (2019). "A new tyrannosauroid from the Upper Cretaceous of Shanxi, China". Cretaceous Research.
8. (1998). "A new ankylosaur of the late Cretaceous from Tianzhen, Shanxi". Progress in Natural Science.

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