Oxfordian stage

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The Oxfordian stage is the first stage of the Late Jurassic Epoch. It spans the time between 161.2 ± 4 Ma and 155.7 ± 4 Ma (million years ago).

The stage takes its name from the city of Oxford in England.

Contents 1 Vertebrate Fauna 1.1 Ornithischians 1.2 Thalattosuchians 1.3 Theropods 2 Invertebrate Fauna 2.1 Nautiloids 2.2 Belemnites 3 References

[edit] Vertebrate Fauna

[edit] Ornithischians

Ornithischians of the Oxfordian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Chaoyangsaurus	Oxfordian? Tithonian?	Chaoyang, Liaoning, China	A marginocephalian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China, belonged to the Ceratopsia, a group of primarily herbivorous dinosaurs with parrot-like beaks	Chaoyangsaurus Chialingosaurus Chungkingosaurus Dacentrurus Tuojiangosaurus Yinlong
Chialingosaurus		Upper Shaximiao Formation, Sichuan, China	A genus of stegosaur similar to Kentrosaurus
Chungkingosaurus		Upper Shaximiao Formation, Sichuan, China	One of the smallest of the stegosaurids at 3-4 metres long (10-13 ft), Chungkingosaurus had at least five spikes on its thagomizer. It had a rather high and narrow skull and large, thick bony plates.
Dacentrurus		England, France, Spain, Portugal	A large stegosaurid
"Eugongbusaurus"		Shishugou Formation, Xinjiang, China	Either a hypsilophodont, or a less-derived ornithischian
Gongbusaurus		Dashanpu Formation, Sichuan, China	By extrapolation from the remains of possible species and other basal ornithopods, it was a herbivorous bipedal animal around 1.3 to 1.5 meters long (4.3 to 4.9 ft). It would have been a strong runner
Jiangjunosaurus		Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China	A genus of stegosaurid
Tuojiangosaurus		Upper Shaximiao Formation, Sichuan, China	The best understood of the Chinese stegosaurs. It was around 7.0 meters (23 ft) long and 2 meters (7 ft) high, with a postulated weight of around 4 metric tons (4.4 short tons).
Yinlong		Shishugou Formation, Xinjiang, China	A small, primarily bipedal herbivore, approximately 1.2 meters (4 ft) long, the oldest and most primitive ceratopsian known to science.

[edit] Thalattosuchians

Thalattosuchians of the Oxfordian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Aggiosaurus				Geosaurus Metriorhynchus, a marine crocodilian.
Geosaurus
Metriorhynchus			An opportunistic carnivore that fed on fish, belemnites and other marine animals and possible carrion. Metriorhynchus grew to an average adult length of 3 meters (9.6 feet), although some individuals may have reached lengths rivaling those of large nile crocodiles.
Steneosaurus

[edit] Theropods

Theropoda of the Oxfordian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Yangchuanosaurus		Upper Shaximiao Formation, Sichuan, China	Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis reached about 7 meters long (23 ft) with a skull around 80 cm long (32 in). Its relative Y. magnus grew larger still: up to 10 meters long (33 ft) with a skull up to 1 metre (3 ft) in length. There was a bony knob on its nose and multiple hornlets and ridges, similar to Ceratosaurus. It had a massive tail that was about half its length.
Monolophosaurus		Upper Shaximiao Formation, China	Monolophosaurus was a medium sized predator that grew to at least 5.7 meters (19 ft) long. It had an odd, yet unique crest on its head which ran most of the length of the skull.	Yangchuanosaurus

[edit] Invertebrate Fauna

[edit] Nautiloids

Nautiloids of the Oxfordian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Somalinautilus				An illustration of a variety of fossil nautiloids.

[edit] Belemnites

Belemnites of the Oxfordian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Produvalia				Small belemnite fossils

[edit] References

• GeoWhen Database — Oxfordian

Jurassic period
Lower/Early Jurassic	Middle Jurassic	Upper/Late Jurassic
Hettangian | Sinemurian Pliensbachian | Toarcian	Aalenian | Bajocian Bathonian | Callovian	Oxfordian | Kimmeridgian Tithonian