A new genus and species of non-hadrosaur hadrosauroid dinosaur, Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi was identified from a specimen discovered in southwestern China in 2022.
Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi lived in China during the Late Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago.
The 8-metre (26-foot) long herbivore Hadrosauroidea is a superfamily of ornithischian dinosaurs that includes the so-called duck-billed dinosaurs and their relatives.
“Hadrosauroids are a diverse and highly specialized clade of ornithischian dinosaurs whose fossils have been found in Early to Late Cretaceous deposits in Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Antarctica,” said paleontologist Dr. Hai Xin from the National Museum of Natural History of China, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, and his colleagues.
“Phylogenically, it is defined as the most inclusive taxon, Parasaurolophus but, Iguanodon It is noted for its duck-billed snout and complex skull dentition.”
“Since the early 20th century, hadrosauroids have been considered an important component of the terrestrial vertebrate fauna of the entire Cretaceous.”
“The fossil record of this group contains a large amount of loose elements, dozens of heavily articulated skeletons, egg and fetal material, and bone bed assemblages that produce soft-tissue impressions and footprints.”
“Within the hadrosauroidea, non-hadrosaur species form a paraphyletic group that reveals a transitional morphology from early-diverging iguanodonts to hadrosaurids.”
“Most non-hadrosaur hadrosaurids are found in Cretaceous Asia, especially in northern and central China, and in the Early Cretaceous Exhibits, Xu Wulong and Probactrosaurus and the Late Cretaceous Tanius, Gilmoreosaurus and Zhang Henglong has been recovered.”
“However, comparable material from the Cretaceous of southwestern China is extremely scarce and fragmentary.”
Incomplete, partially articulated skeleton Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi Collected in 2022 Positive Yang Layer Chongqing, southwest China.
“Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi is the second officially named hadrosauroid dinosaur discovered in South China. Nanningosaurus dassiensis” the paleontologist said.
This specimen represents a transitional morphology between hadrosauroid and non-hadrosauroid dinosaurs and enhances our understanding of the diversity and evolution of non-hadrosauroid dinosaurs.
“The age distribution of eight hadrosaurids is Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi. Phylogenetically, it corresponds to the apex of the Zhengyang Formation during the Santonian to early Maastrichtian period. Chienjiangsaurus chanshengi “Fossils found are probably limited to the late Late Cretaceous,” the authors say.
“Hierarchical clustering of 12 hadrosauroid dinosaur assemblages from Late Cretaceous deposits in Asia revealed strong correlations between the Zhongyang Formation and the Djadokhta and Barungoyot Formations in Mongolia, supporting contemporaneous exchange of dinosaur faunas across East Asia.”
Team paper Published in the journal on August 27, 2024 Cretaceous Research.
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Huy Dai others A new late-divergent non-hadrosaur hadrosauroid species (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from southwestern China: supports Late Cretaceous dinosaur fauna exchange across East Asia. Cretaceous Research Published online August 27, 2024; doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105995
Source: www.sci.news
