The first tetrapod to be reported from the famous Yixian Formation (the holotype has been discovered in the 1930s and described in a 1940 paper) that later yields a number of feathered dinosaurs, the little lizard-like aquatic reptile Monjurosuchus remained an enigma until recently. It was successively classified as a Pseudosuchian, a Rhynchocephalian until the description of new specimen placed it confidently as a basal Choristodera. Only one species, M. splendens, has been described but some remains from Japan have been referred to the genus.
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Name
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Monjurosuchus splendens
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Authority
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Endo, 1940
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Meaning of the generic name
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Size
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Skull length: 5 cm, Length: 40 cm
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Remains
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Holotype (NMM3671): Lost during WWII
Neotype (GMV 2167): nearly complete skeleton.
Referred
specimens: IVPP V13273, 13279, 13866, 14269, small juvenile individuals; IVPP V3673, sub−adult individual with skin impressions (originally attributed to Rhynchosaurus orientalis by Endo and Shikama, 1942); DR0003C, complete adult individual; BMNHC V073, nearly complete skeleton.
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Age and Distribution
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Horizon: Yixian Formation. Early Cretaceous (Barremian).
Type locality: Tananku, near Lingyun, Liaoning, China. Also: Niuyingzi,
Lingyuan, Liaoning, China (neotype locality), Toutai, north of Yizhou, Liaoning, China (BMNHC V073).
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Classification
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Diaspida Choristodera Monjurosuchidae
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Further Reading
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Endo, R. 1940. A new genus of Thecodontia from the Lycoptera beds in Manchoukou. Bulletin of the National Central Museum of Manchoukou 2: 1–14.
Endo, R. and Shikama, T. 1942. Mesozoic reptilian fauna in the Jehol mountainland, Manchoukuo. Bulletin of the Central National Museum of Manchoukuo 3: 1–19.
K.-Q. Gao and Q. Li. 2007. Osteology of Monjurosuchus splendens (Diapsida: Choristodera) based on a new specimen from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China. Cretaceous Research 28:261-271.
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Synonyms |
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Rhynchosaurus orientalis Endo and Shikama, 1942
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|  Skeleton of Monjurosuchus splendens (BMNHC V073). From Gao & Li, 2007. |
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