Euhelopus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian stage, around 150 million years ago). It lived in what is now Shandong Province in China. A large herbivore, it weighed approximately 20 tons.
Discovery and Species
It was originally named
Helopus, meaning "Marsh Foot" by Wiman in 1929, but this name already belonged to a bird. It was renamed
Euhelopus in 1956 by
Romer. There is a plant genus (a
grass) with the same
generic name. However, a genus in one
kingdom (biology) is allowed to bear a name that is in use as a genus name in another kingdom, and the name
Euhelopus has been allowed. The
type species is
Euhelopus zdanskyi. The type material is in the
Paleontological Museum of Uppsala University,
Uppsala,
Sweden.
References
- Fastovsky DE, Weishampel DB (2005). The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs (2nd Edition). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81172-4.
External links