Kunmingosaurus

Kunming lizard

• Kunming · Chinese (place name) · Kunming (city in Yunnan Province, China)
• -o- · Greek · connector vowel
• sauros · Greek · lizard

Kunmingosaurus is named after Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province in southwestern China, near where the fossils were discovered. The suffix "-saurus" comes from the Greek word "sauros," meaning "lizard," a standard element in dinosaur genus names. The name therefore translates literally as "Kunming lizard," honouring the locality of the find. It was among the earliest sauropod dinosaurs described from China.

Named by

Zhao

Year named

1985

Period

Early Jurassic

Stages

Hettangian – Toarcian

Found in

Fengjiahe Formation (also referred to as Lufeng Formation equivalents), Yunnan Province, China

Kunmingosaurus wudingensis is generally considered a nomen dubium due to the fragmentary and poorly described nature of the fossil material. It is a basal sauropod (or possibly a prosauropod-grade sauropod) from the Early Jurassic of China. The 1985 description by Zhao was limited in detail, contributing to its uncertain status.