Obscure Dinosaur of the Week: Klamelisaurus gobiensis

Name: Klamelisaurus gobiensis
Etymology: After the Pinyin romanization for the fossil locality (Klameli), and the Greek 'saurus' (reptile/lizard); and after the Gobi Desert (where Klameli is situated)
Distribution: Middle Jurassic of China
Type Specimen: Almost complete skeleton (fragmentary teeth, vertebral column, ribs, right forelimb, pelvis, left and right hindlimbs)
Estimated size: 17 metres long, weighing approximately 7 tonnes
First described by: Zhao (1993)

Image courtesy cheungchungtat

Interesting fact: Is Klamelisaurus gobiensis now lost to science?

Apart from the first paper by Zhao (1993) describing K. gobiensis, it is difficult to locate detailed descriptions or investigations regarding this sauropod. This is likely due to the preparation and preservation of the fossil skeleton, or lack thereof. Apparently, after the fossilised remains of K. gobiensis were excavated and transported back to Beijing in 1985, "... extreme fluctuation in ambient temperature and humidity" (Zhao, 1993, pg 1) started to disintegrate the remains . I wonder how much of it, if any, now still exists.

Simplified cladogram of all non-avian dinosaurs. K. gobiensis was a non-neosauropod eusauropod, within sauropodomorpha.

References
Upchurch, P., Barrett, P. M., and Dodson, P. 2004. Sauropoda. IN: Weishampel, D. B., Osmolska, H., and Dodson, P. (eds.), The Dinosauria (2nd edition). University of California Press, Berkeley, pp 259-322

Zhao, X., 1993. A new mid-Jurassic sauropod (Klamelisaurus gobiensis gen. et sp. nov.) from Xinjiang, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 31(2): 132-138