New species of ‘dragon’ dinosaur discovered by Canadian Paleontologists

Canadian paleontologists discovered a new species of long-necked dinosaur from bones discovered by construction workers near Quijang City in 2006. The dinosaur is about 50 feet long with a neck that measures 25 feet long. Phillip Currie, who led the team of researchers, said that there are no more bones in the field of this dinosaur, as far as he knows. The findings are published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Currie, professor at the University of Alberta, mentioned that lots of dinosaur fossils, including footprints, bonebeds and skeletons, are available in that region of China and they are well-preserved. The team was also asked to help describe it. While digging at the site, a team of researchers found head and neck still together. This is a rare phenomenon as dinosaur’s head and neck often gets detached after the death because of the small cranium.

Dubbed the Qijianglong (dragon of Quijang), is supposed to thrive in the late Jurassic period in China about 160 million years ago. This species belong to mamenchisaurids dinosaurs, which were indigenous to China. Mamenchisaurids are known for their extremely long neck, measuring as long as half of the length of their bodies. Unlike other mamenchisaurids, the Qijianglong’s neck is a much lighter due to vertebrae filled with air. The skeleton found during the discovery is now placed in Qijiang’s local museum.

Some experts believe the sea barrier as primary reason why the mamenchisaurs were unable to migrate outside China. Over the period, the species might have lost in competition to invading species.

Currie expressed that mamenchisaur are specifically found in China and were unable to spread as China was rather isolated at that time. However, they do closely resemble to other dinosaur species all over the world.

Besides Currie, the team of paleontologists involved a former MSc student Lida Xing and PhD student Tetsuto Miyashita.