Heishansaurus

Heishansaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Suborder:	?Thyreophora
Infraorder:	?Ankylosauria
Family:	?Ankylosauridae
Genus:	Heishansaurus Bohlin, 1953
Species:	H. pachycephalus
Binomial name
Heishansaurus pachycephalus Bohlin, 1953

Heishansaurus, meaning "Heishan lizard" after the area in China where it was discovered, is the name given to a dubious genus of dinosaur. First described in 1953 as a pachycephalosaur, this dinosaur may actually be an ankylosaur. The fossils, dating from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian or Maastrichtian stage), are fragmentary, and the genus is considered a nomen dubium. The type (and only known) specimen is Heishansaurus pachycephalus (pachycephalus means "thick-headed").

Fossils

The material consists of poorly preserved cranial and postcranial fragments plus some dermal scutes. They were found in the Minhe Formation, near Heishan (= "Black Mountain"), Gansu Province, China.

References

• Fossil reptiles from Mongolia and Kansu. Bohlin, B. Report of the Scientific Expedition to northwest China, Publ. 37 (6); 1-105 (1953).
• A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). Sullivan, R. Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the Western Interior. Lucas et al (eds), New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35; 347-365 (2006).