Jingshanosaurus Temporal range: Early Jurassic 201.6–196.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeleton of Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis at the Miami Science Museum.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	†Sauropodomorpha
Clade:	†Sauropodiformes
Genus:	†Jingshanosaurus Zhang and Yang, 1995
Type species
†Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis Zhang and Yang, 1995

Jingshanosaurus (meaning "Jingshan lizard") is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the early Jurassic period 201.3 million years ago that went extinct 199.3 million years ago in the Hettangian Age.

Its maximum weight was around 4.3 t with an adult femur length of 845 mm.^[1] Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis grew to be 5 meters (16.4 ft) long.^[2]

History of discovery

Its fossils, a nearly complete skeleton including the skull, were found near the town of Jingshan ("Golden Hill"), Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, China, from which the name derives.^[3] First described in 1995, the type species is J. xinwaensis, formalized by Zhang and Yang.^[4] Fossil remains of Jingshanosaurus had been exhibited in museums several years prior to the formal naming. A complete skeleton and skull of Jingshanosaurus xinwaensis have been found and is considered the last prosauropods to live on earth.^[5]

Classification

Jingshanosaurus may have been most closely related to Yunnanosaurus, and has, at times, been included in the Yunnanosauridae. In fact, Dong Zhiming considered Jingshanosaurus possibly a large specimen of Yunnanosaurus. If true, this would make Jingshanosaurus a junior synonym of Yunnanosaurus.