Asia Wire

Chinese Scientists Find Fossils Of Young Dinosaur That May Be New Species From Early Jurassic Period

Chinese scientists have found the remains of a large sauropod dinosaur that died when it was just three years old and was therefore still in the early stages of its development.

The fossils were found near the city of Lufeng in the autonomous prefecture of Chuxiong in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, bordering with Tibet, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar, and are believed to have been from the Early Jurassic period.

The research was carried out by the Institute of Vertebrate Evolution of Yunnan University and the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Nanjing Geological Museum/AsiaWire

Scientists said they found part of the dinosaur’s skill, spine, metacarpal bones, distal femur, and proximal tibia, and that the animal was in an early stage of its development.

By comparing the fossils to other sauropod remains around the world, researcher estimate it was around three years old when it died.

Although confirmed to have been a sauropod, scientists do not yet know which species it belonged to. It is possible the dinosaur may have belonged to an unidentified sauropod species.

AsiaWire

It is reported that the sauropod dinosaur fossil group in the Lufeng area of Yunnan is rich in ancient vertebrate fossils, including 11 sauropod genera. The research also sorted out the chronology and biostratigraphy of the Lufeng Formation for the first time.

The Lufeng Formation belongs to the Early Jurassic period, about 200 million years ago, and is the most abundant fossil-bearing unit of the Mesozoic ‘red bed’ in Yunnan.

Sauropods are a group of saurischian dinosaurs that had very long necks, long tails, relatively small heads, and four pillar-like legs.

AsiaWire

They are notable for the enormous size and well-known genera include brontosaurus, brachiosaurus, and diplodocus.

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