Paleontologists have discovered the fossils of a new species of dinosaur in northwestern China.

The discovery of Lingwulong shenqi, shows there was an early member of the well-known group of plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods -- early meaning 15 million years earlier than any previously-known member of the group.

The newly-discovered dinosaur was a neosauropod, a group of long-necked vegetarians that includes brontosaurus and diplodocus.

Xu Xing/Reuters

It is estimated to have been between 35 and 57 feet long from head to tail. The discovery was published in the British journal, Nature Communications on Tuesday.

Lingwulong shengi translates to "Amazing Dragon from Lingwu". Lingwu, is the region where they were found; long is Mandarin for 'dragon' and shenqi is Mandarin for 'amazing'.

Zhang Zongda/Reuters

Research has previously shown that neosauropods thrived from between 163 million and 145 million years ago, in the late Jurassic period.

But Lingwulong shengi fossils date back to 174 million years ago, suggesting neosauropods were roaming Pangea much earlier, in the Middle Jurassic period.

This has prompted the paleontologists to re-examine their hypothesis of the largest diplodocoid dinosaur roaming 15 million years earlier from previously thought.

It also suggests that these dinosaurs dispersed into East Asia much earlier than previously believed -- when Pangea was still a large landmass.

Reuters

For more detailed information on the 'Amazing Dragon from Lingwu' please visit Nature.com</s>Image copyright Zhang Zongda Image caption Artist's impression: Lingwulong shenqi means the "amazing dragon" of Lingwu

A newly discovered dinosaur may be re-writing China's geological history, according to recent findings.

The latest addition to the family of giant, long-necked dinosaurs known as sauropods, Lingwulong shenqi lived in the north of the country about 174 million years ago.

At this time, East Asia was thought to have split from the supercontinent Pangaea.

But Lingwulong may be evidence that that was not the case.

Part of a subgroup called the neosauropods, which included brontosaurus, diplodocus and brachiosaurus, Lingwulong appeared exactly where it shouldn't - in northern China, 15 million years earlier than any other known dinosaurs from this group.

Dr Philip Mannion from Imperial College London, an author on the study, described the discovery as "doubly unexpected."

Image copyright Xu Xing Image caption Technicians measuring the large shoulder bone of Lingwulong

"Not only is it the oldest member [of this group], but it's the first ever from Asia. For a long time it was thought that neosauropods didn't get into Asia during the Jurassic," he told BBC News.

At the time, Pangaea was beginning to fragment. It has been proposed that a sea, much like the Red Sea but larger, separated what is now China from the rest of the supercontinent, preventing animals from crossing.

"This suggests that firstly [neosauropods] got in before any kind of barrier came up, but increasingly the geological evidence suggests maybe this barrier was quite ephemeral," says Dr Mannion.

Despite neosauropods being plentiful throughout other areas of Pangaea - now North America, Europe and eastern Africa - none older than 160 million years old had previously been found.

Image copyright Shi Aijuan Image caption Bones in white were recovered in the excavation of Lingwulong

Lingwulong now takes its place as the oldest known member of this family. But it may also show that these dinosaurs were at a much more advanced stage of evolution than previously thought - taking their diversification back from the middle to at least the early Jurassic.

Contrary to the idea that the dinosaurs "failed" because they died out in the wake of the Chicxulub impact, they were actually very successful at evolving and adapting, enduring for many millions of years. They survived several mass extinctions on Earth caused by extensive volcanic activity, and went on to thrive.

The discovery of Lingwulong is further evidence of this, says Dr Cecilia Apaldetti of CONICET-Universidad Nacional de San Juan in Argentina

Image copyright Xu Xing Image caption The dinosaur was excavated in the Lingwu region of China, for which it is named

"This new sauropod Lingwulong and the recent Ingentia - related to the origin of Sauropoda - reveal that dinosaurs had an unusual ability to innovate anatomically from the beginning of their evolution," the palaeontologist, who was not involved in the study, told BBC News.

"This allowed them to dominate and prevail in almost any terrestrial ecosystem for millions of years. This 'anatomical versatility' was probably one of the evolutionary keys that led them to be one of the most successful vertebrates in the history of life on earth," she added.

The study was published in Nature Communications.

Follow Mary on Twitter.</s>The gigantic, long-necked sauropods are an iconic group of dinosaurs—and it seems scientists have just discovered a new one. Paleontologists were able to define the new species, known as Lingwulong shenqi, using seven to 10 partial skeletons from four separate dig sites in China.

Lingwulong belonged to the diplodocid family, the researchers write in their paper published Tuesday in Nature Communications. Specifically, it seems to be a dicraeosaurid, a small clade of sauropod dinosaurs with slightly shorter necks and a series of sharp spines protruding from their vertebrae.

The new fossils date back to 174 million years ago, making Lingwulong the earliest known neosauropod (a big group of dinosaurs that includes the titanosaur, diplodocus, brachiosaurus, and others). The existence of a neosauropod like Lingwulong way back before Pangaea fully split apart challenges existing theories of when and how many dinosaur species evolved.

Research has previously shown that neosauropods thrived from between 163 million and 145 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic period. But Lingwulong fossils date back to 174 million years ago, suggesting neosauropods were roaming Pangea much earlier, in the Middle Jurassic.

“The discovery of Lingwulong pushes back the origination times of many of the groups of sauropod dinosaurs that we think of as most iconic, and challenges many conventional ideas about the early biogeographical history of dinosaurs,” Philip Mannion, a study author and paleontologist at Imperial College London, told Gizmodo.

John Whitlock, a paleontologist at Mount Aloysius College who wasn’t involved with the new work, said he’s skeptical that Lingwulong is truly a diplodocid. He told Gizmodo it’s possible that the dinosaur is more related to Middle Jurassic sauropods from China called Mamenchisaurus or Omeisaurus, thanks to similarities in their skulls and vertebrae. It is still possibly a diplodocid, he said, because it’s so old and primitive that it may just not have evolved what we think of as a typical diplodocid skull yet.



If Lingwulong is indeed a diplodocid, it’s the first to be discovered in East Asia. That surprising discovery is what inspired the dinosaur’s name, as the researchers write in their paper: “Lingwu, after the region where the specimens were found; long, the Mandarin Chinese for ‘dragon’; and shenqi, the Mandarin Chinese for ‘amazing’, reflecting the unexpected discovery of a dicraeosaurid in the Middle Jurassic of China.” Altogether, it’s the “amazing dragon of Lingwu.”

And though it’s often difficult to guess what a dinosaur looked like or how it behaved based on a fossil, Mannion had some ideas.

“It wouldn’t have been too dissimilar to other sauropods, although the group Lingwulong belonged to had slightly shorter necks than other sauropods,” he said. He also noted they ranged from 35 to 55 feet (11 to 17 meters) long. “They probably moved around fairly slowly most of the time, in small herds, and ate quite a lot.”</s>Unearthed in China, these creatures are the earliest known sauropods and suggest that the more advanced species appeared 15 million years than previously believed.

After paleontologists just announced the discovery of the largest sauropod foot fossil ever uncovered, as reported by the Inquisitr earlier today, a new fossil find completely challenges the known history of these gentle giants, the biggest dinosaurs to ever roam the planet.

According to Reuters, a previously unknown species of ancient sauropods has been uncovered in northwestern China.

Named Lingwulong shenqi — which translates to “amazing dragon from Lingwu,” the closest Chinese city to the site where the fossils were unearthed — these creatures represent the earliest known members of the long-necked sauropods that walked the Earth 174 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period (end of the Early Jurassic and the beginning of the Middle Jurassic).

The newly discovered Lingwulong fossil was identified as a dicraeosaurid, a small clade of sauropods from the diplodocid family endowed with slightly shorter necks, which likely made them target lower plants, reports Gizmodo.

Detailed in a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, the discovery was initially attributed to a local farmer, who stumbled upon the fossils by chance while he was out sheep herding. An international team of Chinese and British paleontologists later arrived at the scene and dug out the remains of eight to 10 Lingwulong specimens.

Because so many individuals were found buried together, the team suspects that the “amazing dragons” of Lingwu probably lived in herds.

These strange dinosaurs, early versions of the well-known sauropods, sported a series of sharp spines sticking out from their vertebrae and had peg-like teeth that helped them graze on soft plants.

Study lead author Xing Xu, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, revealed that the largest “amazing dragon” to emerge from the Chinese hillside measured 57 feet (17.5 meters) in length.

Advanced Sauropods Evolved Much Earlier Than We Imagined

This unexpected find is extremely significant, since it pushes back the timeline of sauropod evolution. The existence of these early sauropods closer to the beginning of the Jurassic suggests that the more advanced sauropod species actually appeared 15 million years earlier than previously thought.

This mighty lineage of giant herbivores later went on to give rise to Diplodocus and Brontosaurus, which lived during the Late Jurassic, and grew to truly enormous sizes during the Cretaceous Period, when behemoths like Argentinosaurus, Dreadnoughtus, and Patagotitan held dominion over the Earth.

Commenting on the discovery of the “amazing dragon,” study co-author Paul Upchurch, a paleontologist at University College London in the U.K., explained the tremendous importance of Lingwulong in the history of sauropods.

“Previously, we thought all of these advanced sauropods originated around 160 million years ago and rapidly diversified and spread across the planet in a time window perhaps as short as 5 million years,” said Upchurch.

“However, the discovery of Lingwulong means that this hypothesis is incorrect and we now have to work with the idea that, actually, this group and its major constituent lineages originated somewhat earlier and more gradually,” he pointed out.

Trekked The Globe While Pangaea Was Still Intact

The “amazing dragon” was part of a sauropod subgroup that researchers assumed never made it to East Asia, since it evolved after the split of the Pangaea super-continent during the early Mesozoic Era.

Therefore, the team was puzzled to find its remains in northwestern China and concluded that “many advanced sauropod lineages originated at least 15 million years earlier than previously realized, achieving a global distribution while Pangaea was still a coherent landmass,” shows the new study.

This finding indicates that East Asia was still connected to other continents even after Pangaea fractured into the seven continents we see today, notes Xu.

This incredible discovery comes hot on the heels of another major find regarding the history of sauropods, notes National Geographic. A mere two weeks ago, another study announced that the first giant dinosaurs appeared much earlier than estimated, as suggested by the remarkable fossil of Ingentia prima — the first giant dinosaur ever found, the Inquisitr reported at the time.</s>Paleontologists in China discovered a new species of dinosaur that roamed the planet millions of years ago.

The fossil, found in northwestern China’s Lingwu region, was given the name of Lingwulong shenqi, which translates to “Lingwu amazing dragon.”

The discovery was announced Tuesday and may force researchers to rethink the entire lineage of the largest animals to roam the earth.

MAYBE BIGFOOT WAS A DINOSAUR, IF THESE FOSSILS ARE ANY INDICATION

Lingwulong shenqi, a member of the plant-eating dinosaurs known as sauropods, lived 174 million years ago during the Jurassic period.

The scientists excavated bones from at least eight to 10 Lingwulong individuals, the largest of which was about 57 feet long, paleontologist Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who led the study published in the journal Nature Communications, told Reuters.

Researchers told the wire service the discovery pushes back by 15 million years the appearance of so-called advanced sauropods, which included some of the largest land animals ever.

BABY SNAKE FROM THE TIME OF THE DINOSAURS FOUND 'FROZEN' IN AMBER

“Previously, we thought all of these advanced sauropods originated around 160 million years ago and rapidly diversified and spread across the planet in a time window perhaps as short as 5 million years,” said University College London paleontologist Paul Upchurch, a study co-author.

But the discovery of Lingwulong means that this group originated somewhat earlier and more slowly, he added.

Lingwulong lived in a warm, wet environment with lush vegetation. Its neck was shorter than some other sauropods, and it could have grazed on soft plants with its peg-like teeth.

“Our discoveries indicate that eastern Asia was still connected to other continents at the time,” Xu said.</s>Fossils unearthed on a hillside in northwestern China are forcing scientists to rethink the history of a dinosaur lineage that produced the largest animals ever to walk the planet.

Scientists on Tuesday announced the discovery of Lingwulong shenqi, an early member of the well-known group of plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods with long necks, long tails, small heads and pillar-like legs. Lingwulong lived 174 million years ago during the Jurassic period.

Its name means "amazing dragon from Lingwu," the closest city to the site where a farmer spotted the fossils while herding sheep.

The scientists excavated bones from at least eight to 10 Lingwulong individuals, the largest of which was about 17.5m long, said paleontologist Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who led the study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Lingwulong represents the earliest-known advanced member of the sauropod lineage, as defined by anatomical traits that distinguish them from primitive sauropods that first appeared tens of millions of years earlier.

The discovery pushes back by 15 million years the appearance of advanced sauropods, a lineage that later would include Jurassic giants like Diplodocus and Brontosaurus as well as Cretaceous Period behemoths like Argentinosaurus, Dreadnoughtus and Patagotitan that were the largest land animals on record.

"Previously, we thought all of these advanced sauropods originated around 160 million years ago and rapidly diversified and spread across the planet in a time window perhaps as short as five million years," said University College London paleontologist Paul Upchurch, a study co-author.

"However, the discovery of Lingwulong means that this hypothesis is incorrect and we now have to work with the idea that, actually, this group and its major constituent lineages originated somewhat earlier and more gradually."

Lingwulong lived in a warm and wet environment with lush vegetation including conifers, ferns and other plants. Its neck was not as long as some other sauropods, and it may have grazed on low, soft plants with its peg-like teeth. Because so many individuals were found together, the researchers suspect Lingwulong, like other sauropods, lived in herds.

Lingwulong belonged to a sauropod subgroup that previously was thought to have been absent from East Asia because it evolved after that land mass split from the rest of Pangaea, an ancient supercontinent.

"Our discoveries indicate that eastern Asia was still connected to other continents at the time," Xu said.</s>Giant long-necked dinosaurs were roaming the supercontinent of Pangaea up to 29 million years earlier than previously thought, a new study suggests.

Fossils of a newly discovered species, dubbed the 'amazing dragon of Lingwu', prove advanced diplodocoids were alive during the early Middle Jurassic of China - 174 million years ago.

Researchers previously believed that advanced diplodocoids, known as neosauropods, did not appear until after the break up of Pangaea, the giant land mass from which modern continents formed.

Sauropods were long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs and among the longest and largest land animals to have lived.

They were the first successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs, dominating land based ecosystems for more than 140 million years from the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous.

They stretched to 130 feet (40 metres) and weighed up to 80 tonnes (80,000kg / 88 tons) - 14 times the weight of an African elephant.

It has been thought that advanced sauropods, the neosauropods, diversified during the breakup of Pangaea and had not reached East Asia before it became isolated.

However, research led by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing has changed our understanding of these ancient creatures.

Researchers excavated several partial skeletons of a new previously unknown species of diplodocoid dinosaur.

They found them in the Lingwu region of China, hence the name 'Lingwulong shenqi' which literally translates to the Lingwu amazing dragon.

The fossils date from around 174 million years ago, making this species the earliest known neosauropod and the first from East Asia.

As a result of this find, researchers found neosauropods were already diverse and widespread in the Middle Jurassic, about 174 to 163 million years ago.

It was previously thought they become dominant at the transition to the Late Jurassic 163 to 145 million years ago.

The findings were based on material from multiple individuals and most parts of the skeleton of an early Middle Jurassic dicraeosaurid.

'The new discovery challenges conventional biogeographical ideas, and suggests that dispersal into East Asia occurred much earlier than expected', researchers wrote in their paper published in Nature Communications.

'Moreover, the age of this new taxon indicates that many advanced sauropod lineages originated at least 15 million years earlier than previously realised, achieving a global distribution while Pangaea was still a coherent landmass'.

Researchers also believe major sauropod groups may have originated in the Early Jurassic.</s>The vegetarian dinosaurs sauropods, what you have seen in the Jurassic Park movie, known as the largest animal that ever walked on earth. That group of long-necked dinosaurs has already included other beasts such as Brachiosaurus, Brontosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Diplodocus but now the palaeontologists in China are going to add another name of a similar species in that list after the new discovery.

A study published in the journal Nature Communications, has showed that scientist have found a new fossil of a dinosaur on a hillside in north-western China that is forcing the palaeontologists to rethink about the history of largest dinosaurs.

After the discovery of long-still bones of at least eight to 10 previously unknown creatures, now the researchers have been able to classify is as a new Chinese species of sauropod and named it Lingwulong shenq or the "amazing dragon of Lingwu."

The researchers stated that even though this newly found fossil of the dinosaur is not as big as others in that largest dinosaur group, still this creature has its own significant as this is an early member of the well-known group of plant-eating dinosaurs that lived 174 million years ago during the Jurassic Period.

Palaeontologist Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who led the study said that this particular species was about 57 feet (17.5 meters) long. The researchers also believe that like other sauropods it would have spent the majority of its life while travelling in small groups and depending on vegetation.

Scientists also claimed that Lingwulong is the first member of its evolutionary family, which is known as Diplodocoidea to be discovered in the East Asian region. The study also included that the new discovery has challenged the conventional biogeographical ideas, and suggested that the dispersal into East Asia occurred much earlier than researchers expected.

It also added that that age of "this new taxon indicates that many advanced sauropod lineages originated at least 15 million years earlier than previously realised, achieving a global distribution while Pangaea was still a coherent landmass."

As reported by Reuters, Paul Upchurch, the co-author of the study and the palaeontologist from University College London clearly stated that earlier they though that these advanced sauropods originated around 160 million years ago "and rapidly diversified and spread across the planet in a time window perhaps as short as 5 million years."

In addition, he also added that but the discovery of "Lingwulong means that this hypothesis is incorrect and we now have to work with the idea that, actually, this group and its major constituent lineages originated somewhat earlier and more gradually."

However, if this newly found Jurassic creature actually belong to the diplodocoid family, then the further challenge will add a new chapter, which will include that how these dinosaurs were spread all over the world when the earth had only one but a huge landmass and was called Pangaea.</s>The dinosaur, which roamed the Earth some 174 million years ago, has been named Lingwulong shenqi. According to the study, "Lingwu" is for the name of the region in which the fossils were discovered; "long" is Mandarin Chinese for dragon; and "shenqi" Mandarin for amazing. All together, the new dino is the "amazing dragon of Lingwu."

Although sauropods have been found globally, researchers noted that due to the fragmentation of the ancient continent Pangea, several subgroups of the species had been restricted to certain parts of the world. This had been the case for the subgroup neosauropods, to which the latest find belongs.

Paleontologists involved in the study first began to excavate four sites across northwest China in 2005, which ultimately resulted in the discovery of seven to 10 partial skeletons of the new species, ranging from juveniles to adults. Officials also noted in the study that the fossils were older than any other similar dinosaur remains by 15 million years.

Considering it's difficult to paint an exact picture of how the dinosaur might've appeared — or behaved, for that matter — officials have estimated that the new dinosaur varied anywhere from 35 to 55 feet long from head to tail and moved fairly slowly.

"Not only is it the oldest member [of this group], but it's the first ever from Asia," study author Philip Mannion told the BBC. "For a long time it was thought that neosauropods didn't get into Asia during the Jurassic."

"This suggests that firstly, [neosauropods] got in before any kind of barrier came up, but increasingly the geological evidence suggests maybe this barrier was quite ephemeral," he added.

Moving forward, researchers hope to find even more fossils to support their work.</s>The photo above shows the partially excavated fossil skeleton of a newly discovered species of diplodocoid dinosaur in the Lingwu region of China. Dubbed Lingwulong shenqi (the Lingwu amazing dragon), the fossils are around 174 million years old.

The finds provide evidence that diplodocoid dinosaurs were distributed across the supercontinent Pangaea, according to a paper published in Nature Communications.

Sauropods were long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs and among the longest and largest land animals to have lived. It has been thought that advanced sauropods, the neosauropods, diversified during the breakup of Pangaea and had not reached East Asia before it became isolated.

Evolutionary and biogeographic analyses including the new species now suggest that neosauropods were already diverse and widespread in the Middle Jurassic (about 174 to 163 million years ago), rather than rapidly becoming dominant at the transition to the Late Jurassic (163 to 145 million years ago) as previously thought. Furthermore, major sauropod groups may have originated in the Early Jurassic.
Researchers at the Imperial College London report the discovery of the Lingwulong genus, a subgroup of Sauropods that lived in China about 174 million years ago, which is 15 million years earlier than any previously-known member of the group.