Zhao Xijin
Encyclopedia
Zhao Xijin is a Chinese paleontologist. He is notable for having named numerous dinosaur
s. He is currently a professor at Beijing
's Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
.
and Xijin went on a dinosaur fossil hunt in 2005 to Tibet
to look for a site that Xijin had found 27 years prior. Before this hunt, in 2001, they had been engaged in a dig in the Gobi Desert
. This involved a rock quarry
that led them to finding 25 skeletons of the species Sinornithomimus dongi.
In 2008, Xijin was involved in and in charge of a dig in Zhucheng
that consisted of digging out a "980 ft-long pit". The site has unearthed more than 7,600 fossils through Xijin's work. It is believed to be the largest such site in the world. The majority of the fossils found appeared to be from the Late Cretaceous
period.
Besides the above, Zhao Xijin also named the family Mamenchisauridae
(with Young Chung Chien, 1972).
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s. He is currently a professor at Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
's Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of China is a prominent research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaurand cat poo specimens...
.
Career
Paul SerenoPaul Sereno
Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...
and Xijin went on a dinosaur fossil hunt in 2005 to Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
to look for a site that Xijin had found 27 years prior. Before this hunt, in 2001, they had been engaged in a dig in the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
. This involved a rock quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
that led them to finding 25 skeletons of the species Sinornithomimus dongi.
In 2008, Xijin was involved in and in charge of a dig in Zhucheng
Zhucheng
Zhucheng is a county-level city in the southeast of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Weifang City and has a population of 1.06 million.-History:Zhucheng was originally known as Langya...
that consisted of digging out a "980 ft-long pit". The site has unearthed more than 7,600 fossils through Xijin's work. It is believed to be the largest such site in the world. The majority of the fossils found appeared to be from the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
period.
List of dinosaurs named
- ChaoyangsaurusChaoyangsaurusChaoyangsaurus was a marginocephalian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China...
(1983) - ChinshakiangosaurusChinshakiangosaurusChinshakiangosaurus was a genus of dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Period. It lived in what is now present-day China. It is classified as a sauropod, but is not well known. The type species, Chinshakiangosaurus chuhghoensis, was first named by Ye, but described by Dong Zhiming in 1992...
(1986) - DachongosaurusDachongosaurus"Dachongosaurus" is the informal name given to an undescribed genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of China. It is known from fossils including at least a partial articulated skeleton from the Dark Red Beds of the Lower Lufeng Series in Yunnan. Possibly a cetiosaur, the "type...
(1986) - DamalasaurusDamalasaurus"Damalasaurus" is the informal name given to a genus of herbivorous dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. It was a sauropod, though its exact classification within the clade is unknown. Fossils of "Damalasaurus", including a rib, have been found in the Middle Daye Group of Tibet...
(1986) - KlamelisaurusKlamelisaurusKlamelisaurus is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. It was a sauropod similar to Bellusaurus, of which it may actually be an adult specimen. It was found in the Gobi desert of Asia.The type species, K...
(1993) - KunmingosaurusKunmingosaurus"Kunmingosaurus" is the name given to an as yet not formally described genus of dinosaur. It was a primitive sauropod which lived during the Early Jurassic. Its fossils were found in Yunnan Province, China in 1954, but without a formal description, it is considered a nomen nudum.The intended "type...
(1986) - Lancangjiangosaurus (1986)
- MegacervixosaurusMegacervixosaurus"Megacervixosaurus" is the informal name given to an as yet undescribed genus of herbivorous dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It was a sauropod which lived in what is now China...
(1983) - MicrodontosaurusMicrodontosaurus"Microdontosaurus" is the name given to an as yet undescribed genus of sauropod dinosaur from China. It was named from fossils from the Middle Jurassic-age Dapuka Group of Xinjiang, and assigned to the Homalosaurpoidea, an outdated classification of diplodocids and titanosaurs. The intended type...
(1983) - MonkonosaurusMonkonosaurusMonkonosaurus is the name given to a dubious genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic . It was a stegosaur which lived in what is now Tibet. The type specimen, Monkonosaurus lawulacus was formalized by Zhao in 1983, but is based only on one partial skeleton...
(1990) - MonolophosaurusMonolophosaurusMonolophosaurus was a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of the Shishugou Formation in what is now Xinjiang, China. It was named for the single crest on top of its skull. The type and only known individual is estimated at...
(with P. Currie, 1994) - NgexisaurusNgexisaurus"Ngexisaurus" is the informal name given to an as yet undescribed genus of dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic. It was a coelurosaur which lived in what is now China. The type species, "Ngexisaurus dapukaensis", was coined by Zhao in 1983...
(1983) - SangonghesaurusSangonghesaurus"Sangonghesaurus" is the informal name given to a genus of dinosaur. It was an ankylosaur, a quadrupedal, armoured herbivore. "Sangonghesaurus" was found in Xinjiang, China, in either Jurassic or Late Cretaceous rocks. The name was coined by Zhao in 1983...
(1983) - SinraptorSinraptorSinraptor is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. The name Sinraptor comes from the Latin prefix "Sino", meaning Chinese, and "Raptor" meaning thief. The specific name dongi honours Dong Zhiming...
(with P. Currie, 1993) - OshanosaurusOshanosaurus"Oshanosaurus" is the informal name given to an as yet undescribed genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic period of Yunnan, China. Its fossils were found in the Lower Lufeng Series. The intended "type species", "Oshanosaurus youngi", was coined by Zhao in 1985...
(1986) - XuanhuasaurusXuanhuasaurusXuanhuaceratops is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period . A member of the family Chaoyangsauridae, it was one of the earliest ceratopsians...
(1986)
Besides the above, Zhao Xijin also named the family Mamenchisauridae
Mamenchisauridae
Mamenchisauridae is an extinct family of sauropod dinosaurs. The family was first named by Chinese paleontologists C.C. Young and H.C. Chao in 1972, in a paper describing Mamenchisaurus. Other mamenchisaurids may include Bellusaurus, Chuanjiesaurus, Eomamenchisaurus, Hudiesaurus, Klamelisaurus,...
(with Young Chung Chien, 1972).