|
Sale 38
|
|
press UP arrow key to increase the zoom ratio.
press DOWN arrow key to decrease the zoom ratio.
press RIGHT arrow key to increase the zoom window size.
press LEFT arrow key to decrease the zoom window size.
|
|
Lot 1201
Important New Rare Ornithopod Dinosaur - Jeholosaurus. This is the first auction of a mounted new rare ornithopod dinosaur from Liaoning, China: Jeholosaurus shangyuanensis. this exquisite specimen is more complete than the discovery holotype specimen with a much better skull and more than 85% of the total skeleton being real bone. Just the ribs, some neural spines and the end of the tail have been cast from another specimen.
The exact relationship of Jeholosaurus to known groups of dinosaurs has not been determined fully at the present time. It is an Ornithipod and seemingly closely related to taxa referred to as hysilophondontids. One hypsilophodontid named Heterodontosaurus seems to be very close to Jeholoslaurus in both shape and size. There is only a single near-complete specimen known of Heterodontosaurus, whose name refers to the different shape teeth present in the jaw, with the back teeth being somewhat flat like a plant eater and the front premaxillary teeth being sharp and pointed like a meat-eating dinosaur. This probably means that Heteodontosaurus like Jeholosaurus were omnivores eating both plants and insects and possibly small lizards. Being an insectivore is consistent with the body of Jeholosaurus which had fragile, light bones and long legs capable of great speed in running.
Jeholosaurus was found in the 125-130 million year old tuffaceous sandstone of the lower Yixian formation near Sihetun, Liaoning Province, China. An enormous volcanic eruption occurred 130 million years ago burying everything within a 50-60 mile radius. This dinosaur Pompey resulted in the preservation of small delicate dinosaurs, some even with feathers.
This spectacular dinosaur is 25" long, with a superb skull 2½" x 1¾", containing 25 teeth in the upper jaw and 24 teeth in the lower jaw. What is extraordinary about the teeth besides the excellent detail of the scalloped-shaped main teeth and somewhat pointed front teeth is that the white enamel of the teeth has been replaced with translucent brownish-orange Chalcedony. This is highly unusual and gives an excellent contrast with the light brown colored bone of the skull. Most known skulls of Jeholosaurus are only partial and have been crushed and highly distorted. This skull is the exception with only slight distortion in the alighment. The front legs are 5" long, the back legs 11" long. The claws on the front feet are ½" long and up to 1" long on the back feet. The dinosaur has been mounted in a natural walking position that is quite bird-like and it is easy to see that Jeholosaurus could run extremely fast and leap quite high for its size. With its huge feet and long back legs, it womewhat resembles a roadrunner and undoubtedly was also as fast. Much more research needs to be done on this rare dinosaur to determine how it lived and its place in relationship to other hypsilophodonts. This is a rare opportunity to purchase a rare dinosaur missing from most museums outside of China.
Allow $150 for domestic shipping.
Estimated Value $15,000 - 17,500.
|
| |
| Unsold |
|
