A team of researchers has unearthed the remains of a new dinosaur species in China. The bones belonged to a long-necked dinosaur and scientists believe this may be one of the tallest dinosaurs ever discovered.
The recently discovered dragon dinosaur lived in the Jurassic period and had a neck that was half the length of its whole body. Experts believe that this particular species of dinosaur had the longest necks, longer than that of most sauropods, which were long-necked dinosaurs with necks that measured approximately a third of their body lengths.
The researchers detailed the recent discovery in a study that was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
The newly found dinosaur species was named Qijianglong, and scientists believe it lived approximately 160 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period. The dinosaur measured approximately 50 feet (15 meters) in length.
Its name translates as “the dragon of Qijiang” and scientists gave it this name after the town in southern China where they unearthed the dinosaur’s fossilized remains.
The newly found dinosaur belongs to a family known as the sauropods, which had thick legs, small heads, and very long necks and tails. The scientists say these were the largest creatures to have ever lived on Earth.
According to the experts, the dinosaur’s neck vertebrae were filled with air and that’s how the dinosaurs could keep their necks up.
One of the researchers involved in the study, Tetsuto Miyashita from the University of Alberta, said that the new dinosaur species could shed new light on the sauropod family. According to Miyashita, the long-necked dinosaurs were very diverse in Asia during the Jurassic period. He claims that in China lived the dinosaurs with the longest necks.
The dinosaur fossils were discovered in 2006 by a team of construction workers.
Scientists believe that this dinosaur could be the origin behind the Chinese dragon legends.
This is not the first extreme dinosaur species to be found in China recently. Last year, paleontologists discovered a new species called Pinocchio Rex, named like this because of its very long snout.
Based on the recent discoveries, researchers believe that China had some of the most advanced saruropods species.
Image Source: sciencedaily
Share this:
