Field guide · Evidence decisions · 10 October 2026
Four cases, four careful decisions
Keep the accepted guess names. Correct a specific metadata error, preserve competing geological interpretations, and hold answers where the evidence cannot yet support fair clues.
Historical v10 checkpoint. These 1,308-genus comparisons preserve the earlier selection. The later eight-case inclusion review and current roster desk show the 1,302-genus v11 roster and rechecks.
Omeisaurus · Correct the type occurrence member only
The type-bearing bed is above Daanzhai limestone, rather than in that member. Clear Daanzhai for occurrence 474577; retain Shaximiao and the unresolved Lower/Upper correlations. All other referrals and occurrences remain separate.
Guess: retained. Hidden answer: pending broader approval.
Release condition: Complete normal Expert placement and clue approval; this metadata correction itself does not require a genus hold.
Clues to avoid: Daanzhai as the fossil-bearing member; An exclusive Lower or Upper member for the type.
Xinjiangtitan · Preserve both Qiketai and Qigu; use secure geography
The inspected literature provides competing assignments for the same SSV 12001 specimen. Neither is sufficiently decisive to eliminate the other. Broad Jurassic and Xinjiang/Shanshan geography are usable; fine age and exclusive formation clues are not.
Guess: retained. Hidden answer: pending broader approval; geographic crowd resolved.
Release condition: Use Turpan Basin, Xinjiang, China rather than disputed formation, and complete normal Expert placement and clue approval.
Clues to avoid: Exclusive Qiketai or Qigu formation; Middle versus Late Jurassic as a decisive clue; Regional numeric age assigned directly to the specimen.
Qijianglong · Keep Suining and the reported Upper Shaximiao alternative
The original published assignment is Suining. The 2025 Upper Shaximiao reassignment cites unpublished surveys. Jurassic is a working interpretation, but regional Suining age research introduces a Cretaceous alternative. No direct published remap/date for the type quarry settles it. Treat period as unresolved in conservative comparisons.
Guess: retained. Hidden answer: hold: unresolved period.
Release condition: A specimen-specific horizon/date or an approved uncertainty-aware period clue. A single unqualified Jurassic profile is insufficient for release.
Clues to avoid: Exclusive Suining or Upper Shaximiao formation; An unqualified single-period answer; Exact regional date treated as a direct specimen date.
Zigongosaurus · Retain the accepted genus as a guess; hold the answer
The original paper gives specimen 02501 and material from at least four individuals. The accepted PBDB genus coexists with a doubtful original species record. Omeisaurus fuxiensis has a separately based type; modern use of Zigongosaurus does not settle the older composite associations. Do not impose a synonym or transfer fossils.
Guess: retained. Hidden answer: hold: independent specimen identity and clue evidence.
Release condition: A specimen-based revision or catalog-supported diagnosis/referral establishing a coherent independent answer and usable clues.
Clues to avoid: Fossils transferred from a proposed synonym; CV 00261 asserted as the original type; Modern catalog numbers silently equated to the original.
Do the safer clues still narrow the branch?
484 previously supported pool targets rechecked across 21656 reaching guesses. 9 comparisons initially exceed five; 0 supported targets remain blind above five after informative navigation. The downloaded comparison includes all targets, every reaching guess, the known and unknown matches, and source hashes.
Xinjiangtitan: Xinjiang alone leaves six. Naming Turpan Basin, Xinjiang leaves at most 4: Hudiesaurus, Rhomaleopakhus, Xinjiangtitan, Tienshanosaurus. Two Tienshanosaurus referrals lack reviewed basin metadata, so Tienshanosaurus remains possible. No speculative basin assignment is needed.
Bisticeratops: initially 6 at most with Kirtland Formation · US; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Titanoceratops, Pentaceratops, Torosaurus, Navajoceratops, Terminocavus, Bisticeratops.
Navajoceratops: initially 6 at most with Kirtland Formation · US; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Titanoceratops, Pentaceratops, Torosaurus, Navajoceratops, Terminocavus, Bisticeratops.
Terminocavus: initially 6 at most with Kirtland Formation · US; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Titanoceratops, Pentaceratops, Torosaurus, Navajoceratops, Terminocavus, Bisticeratops.
Yeneen: initially 7 at most with Bajo de la Carpa Formation · AR; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Traukutitan, Overosaurus, Inawentu, Yeneen, Bonitasaura, Neuquensaurus, Rinconsaurus.
Daliansaurus: initially 6 at most with Yixian Formation · CN; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Daliansaurus, Jianianhualong, Liaoningvenator, Sinovenator, Mei, Sinusonasus.
Sinusonasus: initially 6 at most with Yixian Formation · CN; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Daliansaurus, Jianianhualong, Liaoningvenator, Sinovenator, Mei, Sinusonasus.
Wendiceratops: initially 6 at most with Oldman Formation · CA; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Spinops, Coronosaurus, Wendiceratops, Centrosaurus, Monoclonius, Avaceratops.
Datousaurus: initially 10 at most with Shaximiao Formation · CN; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Daanosaurus, Dashanpusaurus, Qijianglong, Shunosaurus, Omeisaurus, Yuzhoulong, Datousaurus, Abrosaurus, Protognathosaurus, Zigongosaurus.
Shunosaurus: initially 10 at most with Shaximiao Formation · CN; informative navigation leaves at most 5. Worst initial possibilities: Daanosaurus, Dashanpusaurus, Qijianglong, Shunosaurus, Omeisaurus, Yuzhoulong, Datousaurus, Abrosaurus, Protognathosaurus, Zigongosaurus.
What still needs evidence
Xinjiangtitan’s geographic crowd is resolved; normal Expert profile approval remains. Qijianglong needs a defensible period policy or direct type-quarry evidence. Zigongosaurus needs a specimen-based identity resolution. These are answer-release conditions, not reasons to remove accepted guesses.
Limits
- These are comparisons of the selected guess roster, including genera held as answers. Candidate counts do not establish taxonomic or scientific approval.
- Existing parent relationships, inherited diets and other period profiles remain provisional. This review changes only the four declared cases.
- Qualified, non-primary and relevant unknown occurrences remain possible. Recorded nonmatches are not an exhaustive absence claim.
- Qijianglong is period-unresolved in candidate comparisons; this does not invent a confirmed Cretaceous occurrence. Its own working-Jurassic comparison is diagnostic only, while hidden-answer eligibility is held.
- The live sample remains 36 genera. The earlier locality screening reports remain reproducible historical checkpoints; this scientific overlay supersedes their four affected decisions.