Klamelisaurus

Klamelisaurus (meaning "Kelameili Mountains lizard") is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Shishugou Formation of China. The type species is Klamelisaurus gobiensis, which was named by Zhao Xijin in 1993, based on a partial skeleton discovered in 1982 near the abandoned town of Jiangjunmiao. Zhao described Klamelisaurus as the only member of a new subfamily, Klamelisaurinae, among the now-defunct primitive sauropod order Bothrosauropodoidea. Since Zhao's description, Klamelisaurus received limited attention from researchers until Andrew Moore and colleagues redescribed it in 2020. A relatively large sauropod measuring approximately 13 metres (43 ft) long, with half of the length being its neck, Klamelisaurus can be distinguished from its relatives by characteristics of the vertebrae and humerus. Phylogenetic analyses have suggested that Klamelisaurus belonged to the Mamenchisauridae, a group of Middle to Late Jurassic and primarily Chinese sauropods, although its close relatives also include a mamenchisaurid from Thailand. While paleontologist Gregory S. Paul suggested that Bellusaurus, known only from juvenile specimens, was a juvenile Klamelisaurus, this proposal has been rejected based on anatomical evidence, and the fact that Bellusaurus was geologically younger.