Chinese scientists discover oldest sauropodomorph dinosaur in East Asia

Chinese researchers have discovered a new dinosaur assemblage in southwest Yunnan province, marking the oldest sauropodomorph found in East Asia so far, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday.

According to a recent article published in the journal Scientific Reports, the previously unknown dinosaur assemblage from the Lower Jurassic period was found in Wuding county in 2020.

The researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropologyc, the Geological Museum of China, Yunnan University, and local natural resources bureau spent five years studying the fossils, naming the species Wudingloong.

The Wudingloong fossil includes relatively well-preserved cranial bones, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, and forelimb bones, with the analysis on the fossil indicating that the species represent the earliest-diverging and stratigraphically oldest sauropodomorph dinosaur discovered in East Asia.

The dinosaur species date back to the earliest period of the Early Jurassic, nearly 200 million years ago.

Compared with other sauropodomorphs in the region, Wudingloong is a smaller species and likely a bipedal dinosaur.