Zhang Zongda
We need to re-think the origins of one of the most iconic dinosaurs.
Diplodocoids are a group of sauropod dinosaurs that includes famous species like Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. They were previously thought to have evolved after the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, but fossils of a previously unknown dinosaur found in China are forcing a re-think.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
The early diplodocoid has been named Lingwulong shenqi, literally “amazing dragon of Lingwu”, after the town near where it was found.
Advertisement
Xing Xu, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and his team found the fossils in Ningxia Autonomous Region in northwest China, and date them from about 174 million years ago. This makes it 15 million years older than the earliest members of this family known until now – and changes the story of how sauropod dinosaurs everywhere evolved.
“Previously we thought that advanced sauropods arrived in the late Jurassic and quickly became dominant on this planet, but this suggests that these dinosaurs evolved earlier and spread slower,” says Xu.
Until now, there had been a consensus that different dinosaur groups lived in different parts of the world by this time. But the presence of diplodocoids in China at this time adds to an argument that dinosaurs were more similar throughout the globe. The apparent geographic diversity might be just down to an incomplete fossil record.
Xu thinks this proves it’s important for researchers to continue investing time and effort in these digs. “My experience in China suggests that there are still lots of unexplored areas, so there’s still lots of potential. It’s been explored for half a century, but we still find new results.”
Journal reference: Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05128-1
Read more: New dinosaur fossil explains how Diplodocus evolved to be so massive
More on these topics: