Sauropterygia > Eosauropterygia > Pachypleurosauroidea

K. hui Young, 1958 (type species)

Material

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Distribution

Lower part of Middle Triassic, (Western Tethyan faunal province), Shingyi, Kweichou Province, China.

Images

Restoration of Keichousaurus hui by Gareth Monger. Used with permission.

K. sp? private specimen preserved in ventral aspect. Approx 30cm long. Courtecy of Ken LeBlanc.

Skull of K. sp. in dorsal aspect

K. yuananensis Young, 1965

material

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Distribution

Lower part of Middle Triassic, (Western Tethyan faunal province), Yuanan, Hupeh Province, China.

Discussion

Keichousaurus is one of the most common sauropterygian fossils and is often found completely articulated, hence this genus is a favorite for most fossil dealers. Keichousaurus is distinguished by a curved humerus, broadened ulna and a "transversally orientated intermedium positioned distal to the broad spatium interosseum between ulna and radius" (!) (Rieppel, 1993). K. yuananensis is twice the size and has a longer broader humerus than K. hui (Chung-chien, 1965).