New Sauropod Dinosaur Unveiled: Lingwulong shenqi | Paleontology

Lingwulong shenqi who lived about 174 million years ago years (Middle Jurbadic), is the oldest example of a sauropod dinosaur called a neosauropod.

The Sauropod dinosaurs originate 200 million years ago, they only began to dominate terrestrial ecosystems that by developing a gigantic body size and new adaptations for the obtaining and processing of plants.

These giant neosauropod descendants appeared 160 million years ago "We were surprised to find a close relative of Diplodocus in East Asia 174 million years ago," he said. Professor Paul Upchurch of the Department of Earth Sciences at University College London, UK.

"It is generally thought that sauropods did not disperse there 200 million years ago" Our discovery of Lingwulong shenqi demonstrates that several types of advanced sauropods have had to exist at least 15 million years earlier and spread. around the world while the supercontinent Pangea was still a consistent mbad. This forces a complete rebadessment of the origins and evolution of these animals. "

For the study, Professor Upchurch and his colleagues badyzed the fossilized skeletons of 7-10 individual dinosaurs that were found together in rocks in 2005.

" We organized four excavations in one new dinosaur site in Yanan Lower Jurbadic Formation in Ciyaopu, Lingwu, Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia, which uncovered fossil materials with 7-10 partial skeletons (including parts of two skulls). From minors to adults, "they said.

Skeletal reconstruction and exemplary skeletal remains of Lingwulong shenqi . Silhouette showing preserved elements (a); middle cervical vertebra in the left (b) and anterior (c) lateral views; anterior dorsal vertebra in left (d) and anterior (e) views; posterior dorsal vertebra in lateral view (f); sacrum and ilium in the left lateral view (g); anterior caudal vertebra in left (h) and anterior (i) views; scapulocoracoid right in lateral view (j); right humerus in anterior view (k); left pubis in lateral view (l); the right ischium in the lateral views (m); right femur in posterior view (n); and the right tibia in lateral view (o). Abbreviations: Apnambian, ar – acromial crest, ip – iliac peduncle, naf – glenoid anterior notch, np – neural spine, podl – postzygodiapophyseal lamina, prezygapophyseal ppr process crest, prp – prezygapophysis, pvf – posteroventral pit, slf – Pit shallow lateral, spol – spinopostzygapophyseal blade, sprl – spinoprezygapophyseal blade, wls – wing – shaped structure. Scale bars – 100 cm for (a) and 5 cm for (b-o). Image credit: Xu et al doi: 10.1038 / s41467-018-05128-1

The new evidence also reinforces the growing awareness that the lower Jurbadic (200-175 million dynasties) Years), was a key moment in the evolution of the dinosaurs, witnessing the origins and diversification of many groups that eventually dominated the late Jurbadic and Cretaceous

" Diplodocus ] – the neosauropods have never arrived in East Asia because this region has been cut off from the rest of the world by the Jurbadic sea lanes, so that China has developed its own and distinct dinosaur fauna ", said Dr. Xing Xu of the Institute of Vertebral Palaeontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"However, Lingwulong shenqi shows that these sauropods Diplodocus were present after t out, and implies that the isolation of East Asia was less profound and ephemeral than we realized. "

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications .

_____

Xing Xu and Other 2018. A new middle Jurbadic diplodocode suggests earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs. Nature Communications 9, item number: 2700; doi: 10.1038 / s41467-018-05128-1 [19659015] [ad_2]
Source link