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Mandschurosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | †Ornithopoda |
| Family: | †Hadrosauridae |
| Genus: |
†Mandschurosaurus Riabinin, 1930 |
| Type species | |
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†Mandschurosaurus amurensis Riabinin, 1925 |
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| Species | |
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Mandschurosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurs based on material from the Upper Cretaceous of Belye Kruchi, Manchuria. M. amurensis is based on a poorly preserved and incomplete skeleton collected by Russian scientists in 1914 from the banks of the Amur River. It was the first dinosaur genus named from China, and a mounted skeleton is on display at the Central Geological and Prospecting Museum in St. Petersburg. However, much of the skeleton is plaster. Regardless, the remains represent a large hadrosaurid. There has been some debate regarding the validity of this genus. Brett-Surman (1979) first considered it a nomen dubium, though some later workers have continued to see it as a valid taxon (Chapman et Brett Surman, 1990, for example). Most recently, Horner et al. (2004) listed the type species as a nomen dubium. The holotype material was initially referred to the genus "Trachodon" (also a nomen dubium), but later reassigned to a new genus by Riabinin (1930).
Over the years, three species have been placed within this genus: Mandschurosaurus amurensis, M. mongoliensis, and M. laosensis. Brett-Surman (1979) considered M. mongoliensis a distinct genus, which he named Gilmoreosaurus. Horner et al. (2004) considered M. laosensis a nomen dubium. This leaves only Riabinin's original species, M. amurensis, as a possibly valid taxon.