{"id":940056,"date":"2026-05-05T20:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/940056\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T20:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:42:22","slug":"early-sauropodomorph-dinosaur-unearthed-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/940056\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Unearthed in China"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new genus and species of massopodan sauropodomorph that lived during the Early Jurassic epoch has been identified from a partial skeleton unearthed in southwestern China. Named Xiangyunloong fengming, this dinosaur bridges a critical gap between early plant-eaters and the colossal four-legged sauropods that would later dominate the Mesozoic world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a><\/p>\n

An artist\u2019s impression of Xiangyunloong fengming. Image credit: Connor Ashbridge \/ CC BY 4.0.<\/p>\n

Xiangyunloong fengming lived in what is now China during the Early Jurassic, roughly 190 million years ago.<\/p>\n

Based on its preserved bones, the dinosaur stretched approximately 9-10 m (30-33 feet) in length, making it one of the largest known early-diverging sauropodomorph dinosaurs from China.<\/p>\n

The species was a type of massopodan<\/a>, a group of sauropodomorphs that lived during the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Early Jurassic epoch is a pivotal period in dinosaur evolution, witnessing the diversification and rise to dominance of sauropodomorph dinosaurs in the terrestrial ecosystem,\u201d said Dr. Ya-Ming Wang from the Geological Museum of China and colleagues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin this group, non-sauropodan massopodan sauropodomorphs played a crucial role in the evolutionary pathways leading to the gigantic body plans characteristic of sauropods.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnderstanding the anatomy, diversity and paleobiogeography of these early-diverging sauropodomorphs is therefore fundamental to deciphering the origins of sauropods, which represent one of the most successful dinosaurian clades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xiangyunloong fengming\u2019s partial skeleton was found the Fengjiahe Formation<\/a> in Luming town, China\u2019s Yunnan province.<\/p>\n

The specimen is represented by vertebrae from the neck, back and tail, as well as parts of the hip.<\/p>\n

The analysis of the fossil shows that the dinosaur possessed an unusual combination of features that the researchers describe as an alternative evolutionary pathway: not the long neck that most people associate with giant dinosaurs, but an exceptionally robust and elongated tail.<\/p>\n

The tail may have served as a counterbalance, allowing the animal to rear up on its hind legs to feed, despite a neck that was relatively short for its body size.<\/p>\n

Using a phylogenetic analysis, the scientists found that Xiangyunloong fengming occupies an evolutionary position between earlier sauropodomorphs and more derived forms closer to true sauropods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe discovery of this new specimen significantly enriches the known Early Jurassic dinosaur fauna of southwestern China,\u201d the authors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt provides critical new anatomical features that enhance our understanding of morphological disparity and evolutionary patterns among the early-diverging sauropodomorphs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The findings<\/a> were published on March 25 in the journal Royal Society Open Science.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

Shao-Bin Hu et al. 2026. A new sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic Fengjiahe Formation of Dali of Yunnan Province, China. R Soc Open Sci 13 (3): 252219; doi: 10.1098\/rsos.252219<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new genus and species of massopodan sauropodomorph that lived during the Early Jurassic epoch has been identified…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":940057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1395,11836,262658,1505,99500,262659,99502,99503,166076,70,16,15,262660,262661,80598],"class_list":{"0":"post-940056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-dinosaur","10":"tag-fengjiahe-formation","11":"tag-fossil","12":"tag-jurassic","13":"tag-massopoda","14":"tag-sauropod","15":"tag-sauropoda","16":"tag-sauropodomorpha","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-xiangyunloong","21":"tag-xiangyunloong-fengming","22":"tag-yunnan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116523916835739545","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=940056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/940056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=940056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=940056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=940056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}