Wuding county: A new species of dinosaur fossil has been discovered in Wuding County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, the oldest known sauropodomorph dinosaur fossil found in East Asia, according to a new article published in the journal Scientific Reports.
According to Thai News Agency, in 2020, previously unknown dinosaur fossils were discovered in Early Jurassic rocks in Wande Township, Wuding County. Researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), the National Geological Museum of China, Yunnan University, and the local Natural Resources Bureau spent five years restoring and studying the fossils, and named the dinosaur species "Wudinglong."
The fossil remains of Wudinglong include the head, cervical and thoracic vertebrae, and well-preserved front leg bones. You Hailu, a researcher from the Institute of Paleontology, said that phylogenetic and stratigraphic analyses showed that the Wudinglong species is the earliest diverging sauropodomorph dinosaur and is located in the oldest rock layers in East Asia so far discovered. This dinosaur lived in the early Jurassic period, around 200 million years ago.
This study developed new phylogenetic structural data that build on previous research. Compared to other sauropodomorph dinosaurs previously found in East Asia, Wudinglong was smaller, had smoother tooth enamel, a more slender shoulder blade, a higher forearm-to-humeral length ratio, and longer fingers, suggesting it was likely a bipedal dinosaur.
The discovery of this new species adds to the evidence that sauropodomorph dinosaurs in southwestern China were among the most diverse and morphologically divergent groups in the world during the Early Jurassic.