genus and species Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus. The generic name, Nanshiungosaurus, refers to the site of provenance Nanxiong city and is derived from the Greek (, meaning lizard). Lastly, the specific name, brevispinus, is derived from the Latin brevis and spina (meaning short and spine, respectively) in reference to the relatively short vertebral spines. When first described, Dong mistakenly thought the specimen to have been a dwarf, strange titanosaurine sauropod characterized by a shorter but thicker neck than other sauropods based on the pelvis structure. In 1997 Dong Zhiming and You Hailu named and described a supposed second species: "Nanshiungosaurus" bohlini, based on a skeleton found in 1992 near Mazongshan. It consists of 11 cervical and 5 dorsal vertebrae with some ribs. The specimen is catalogued as IVPP V11116 coming from the Early Cretaceous, Upper Xinminbao Group. Also, they coined the Nanshiungosauridae to contain "both species". Dong and Yu presented no evidence or argumentation supporting the assignment of the species to Nanshiungosaurus. In 2010, the North American paleontologist Lindsay Zanno considered this referral to be highly improbable since "N". bohlini dates back from the Barremian-Aptian ages and in the view of lack of synapomorphies, she considered that the supposed second species is unrelated to Nanshiungosaurus and might warrant its own genus. In addition, she corrected the number of sacral vertebrae from 5 to 6 and noted that the holotype pelvis from the latter has suffered damage since collection and has been reconstructed with painted plaster in the affected areas. Moreover, the remains of "N". bohlini were recovered from the lower red beds of the Zhonggou Formation in the Gongpoquan Basin, a completely different geological context. As an overall consensus, this dubious specimen is no longer considered to be relatable to Nanshiungosaurus. Description Nanshiungosaurus was a relatively large-bodied therizinosaurid, estimated at long weighing . This taxon can be differentiated by the possession of stocky posterior-most cervical vertebrae with opisthocoel (meaning that they were concave on their posterior sides) centra. Like other derived (advanced) therizinosaurids, Nanshiungosaurus was a pot-bellied animal that had a strong build composed of stout hindlimbs with a functionally tetradactyl pes. The arms ended up in large, recurved claws that were side to side flattened. Though the holotype specimen lacks cranial material, the preserved elements in therizinosaurids Erlikosaurus and Segnosaurus indicate that it had a relatively small skull with coarsely serrated teeth, and developed a prominent rhamphotheca (keratinous beak). Vertebral column