Heilongjiangosaurus

Heilongjiang lizard

• Heilongjiang · Chinese (place name) · Heilongjiang (Black Dragon River) Province, China
• saurus · Greek · lizard

The name combines "Heilongjiang" — the Chinese province (and river) in northeastern China whose name means "Black Dragon River" — with the Greek "sauros" meaning "lizard." It was named after the province where its fossils were discovered. This follows the common convention of naming dinosaurs after the region in which they were found.

Named by

Gao et al.

Year named

2007

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Heilongjiang Province, China

Heilongjiangosaurus is a large hadrosaurid (duck-billed dinosaur) from the Yuliangze Formation of Heilongjiang Province, China. It is considered a nomen dubium by many researchers because the holotype material is fragmentary and does not preserve enough diagnostic features to confidently distinguish it from other hadrosaurs found in the same region (such as Edmontosaurus-related taxa or Saurolophus). It should not be confused with the plesiosaur Hainosaurus or other similarly named taxa.