Oriental Dinosaurs - New Chinese Dinosaur Discovery

New Species of Plant-Eating Dinosaur From China

The Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon, is rapidly approaching and true to make a brand new dinosaur species is discovered in China. This a part of Asia may state to being the foremost prolific location on the world for brand new dinosaur discoveries at the instant. Over the last twenty or therefore years, additional new varieties of dinosaur are discovered and named than within the continuing 200 years. This new dinosaur, described as a member of the Ornithopoda (bird-hipped dinosaurs - Ornithischians) adds greatly to this information of this sort of Chinese dinosaur, as up till currently solely a couple of Chinese Ornithopods are scientifically described.

Yueosaurus tiantaiensis - a brand new Dinosaur Species

The dinosaur jointly researched by a team of Chinese and Japanese scientists has been named Yueosaurus tiantaiensis. A paper detailing the analysis work has been printed within the scientific journal "Cretaceous analysis."

Known from simply one, well-preserved however incomplete specimen Y. tiantaiensis is believed to possess been but a metre tall, and tiny quite one.5 metres long. it's been described as a basal Ornithopod. The fossils of those kind of dinosaurs are found on all continents however fossil specimens from China are rare. These animals possessed beaks, were in all probability mainly vegetarian however some species might have eaten insects and little vertebrates. that they had hind legs longer than their front legs, and were in all probability facultative bipeds, (running on hind legs typically, however on the move on all fours if required). Most basal Ornithopods were gracile and little, though their descendants were to become the foremost widespread and customary giant plant-eating dinosaurs by the Late Cretaceous.

Discovered throughout Highway Construction

The original fossil material was found in 1998 when construction staff uncovered the remains of this little dinosaur throughout a road building project in Tiantai county, within the jap province of Zhejiang. the situation where this prehistoric herbivore's remains were found was the inspiration behind the precise name of this dinosaur. The fossils were intensively studied at the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History and it absolutely was from this analysis that the joint Sino/Japanese team were able to ascribe the remains to a wholly new species.

Yueosaurus Tiantaiensis lived throughout the Cretaceous geological amount. The fossils related to this dinosaur were aloof from strata approximately a hundred million years previous (Albian faunal stage). the total name of this new dinosaur, one among 0.5 a dozen new species described from Zhejiang province within the last twelve months; means that "Tiantai Yue Dinosaur" in Chinese, because it was discovered within the present-day Tiantai county and also the region used to be the territory of the traditional state of Yue. that the name reflects each fashionable and ancient China.

Important Chinese Dinosaur Discovery

The new species represents the southernmost basal Ornithopod dinosaur discovered up to now on the continent of Asia. it's stunning how few of this sort of dinosaur is thought from China, particularly given the in depth fossil record of animals like the connected Hypsilophodontids from North America and Europe. It may be that tiny Ornithopods are rare in Asia when put next to the northern hemisphere as an example, or there may be a bias within the fossil record with these little dinosaurs, maybe being under-represented within the fossil record.

The closest living analogs to dinosaurs like Y. tiantaiensis are wallabies, deer and little antelope. Fossilised burrows found in North America and what would are the polar regions of Australia recommend that some varieties of little Ornithopods might have lived underground.