Liaoningosaurus

Liaoningosaurus (meaning "Liaoning lizard") is an unusual genus of basal ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Liaoning Province, China that lived during the Early Cretaceous (late Barremian to early Aptian stages, ~125.4 to 118.9 Ma) in what is now the Yixian and Jiufotang Formation. The type and only species, Liaoningosaurus paradoxus, is known from more than 20 specimens, with some representing juveniles. It was named in 2001 by Xu, Wang and You. L. paradoxus was unusual among ornithischian dinosaurs in that it is speculated to have hunted or scavenged, with preserved gut contents showing that it may have eaten fish. Additionally, some features of its skeleton may suggest that it was partially aquatic. However, not all paleontologists agree with this interpretation. It is the oldest ankylosaurid to have had a tail club and had a wide paleogeographic and stratigraphic distribution in western Liaoning. Both Liaoningosaurus and Chuanqilong show various similarities with one another, with the latter being suggested to be a later growth stage. The remains of a juvenile ankylosaur were collected by members of the Western Liaoning expedition team of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) from the Baicaigou locality in the Liaoning Province, China. It was recovered from the Dawangzhangzi Bed of the Yixian Formation, which dates to the late Barremian to early Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous period. The specimen was named and described in 2001 by Xing Xu, Xiao-Lin Wang and Hai-Lu You. The generic name, Liaoningosaurus, is derived from the Liaoning Province and the Greek word "sauros" (lizard). The specific name is derived from the Latin word "paradoxus", in reference to a suite of highly unusual traits for an ankylosaur. The type specimen, IVPP V12560, consists of a nearly complete, articulated skeleton measuring approximately 34 centimetres (1 ft 1 in) in length that was preserved with the ventral surface exposed on a slab.