Chaoyangsaurus

Chaoyangsaurus ("Chaoyang lizard") is a marginocephalian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China. It has been dated to between 150.8 and 145.5 million years ago. Chaoyangsaurus belonged to the Ceratopsia (Greek for "horned faces"). Chaoyangsaurus, like all ceratopsians, was primarily a herbivore. Discovery and naming In 1976, the remains of Chaoyangsaurus were found by Cheng Zhengwu at Ershijiazi, in the Chaoyang area of Liaoning Province in northeastern China. The fossil was added to a travelling exhibition. Unlike many other dinosaurs, Chaoyangsaurus had been discussed in a number of sources before its official publication. As a result of this, several different spellings of its name have come and gone as invalid nomina nuda ("naked names", names with no formal description behind them). The first name to see print was Chaoyoungosaurus, which appeared in the guidebook to a Japanese museum exhibit, and was the result of an incorrect transliteration from the Chinese into the Latin alphabet. Zhao Xijin in 1983 also used this spelling when he first discussed the species, again lacking a description so it is technically a nomen nudum. Two years later, Zhao again used this early spelling when he assigned a type specimen and species name, Chaoyoungosaurus liaosiensis.