In 1938, Bian Meinian, known in the West as Mei Nien Bien, discovered a fragmentary dinosaur skull. In 2001, Dong Zhiming named and described the specimen as the type speciesBienosaurus lufengensis. The generic name honours Bian. The specific name refers to the Lufeng formation.[1]
Bienosaurus is based on holotypeIVPP V15311 (in 2001 incorrectly given the inventory number IVPP V 9612). It consists of a partial right lower jaw with teeth and several cranial fragments.
Phylogeny
Dong in 2001 placed Bienosaurus in the Scelidosauridae, considering these to be part of the Ankylosauria. Later publications suggested a general position basal in the Thyreophora. In 2019 a study confirmed this, concluding Bienosaurus was a nomen dubium, possibly identical to Tatisaurus from the same formation.[2]
^Raven, T.J., Barrett, P.M., Xu, X., and Maidment, S.C.R. (2019). "A reassessment of the purported ankylosaurian dinosaur Bienosaurus lufengensis from the Lower Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica64
