Paleontologists in India have discovered a partial skeleton of a previously unknown small neosauropod dinosaur in the Middle Jurassic rocks of Gujarat’s Kutch Valley. This groundbreaking find pushes back the known global distribution of major dinosaur lineages by tens of millions of years.
Reconstruction of Ceratocaudia Antiqua, the oldest known large neosauropod species from India. Image credit: Connor Ashbridge / CC BY 4.0.
The Ceratocaudia Antiqua belongs to the neosauropoda group, which eventually gave rise to gigantic dinosaurs like diplodocus, Brachiosaurus, and Argentinosaurus. However, this new species measures only about 7 meters (23 feet) in length.
“Neosauropods represent one of the most successful groups of saurischian dinosaurs, flourishing from the late Jurassic to the end of the Cretaceous,” said Dr. Abhishek Natarajan from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and his team.
“Despite this, the early evolution of the neosauropod lineage, particularly the Diplodocoidea and Macronaria branches, remains hotly debated due to factors such as inadequate outcrop availability, uncertain dating of Lower Middle Jurassic deposits, and poor sampling rates,” Natarajan elaborated.
“Recent research into neosauropods aims to clarify these issues, revealing that both diplodocoids and macronarians had extensive geographic distributions and rich biodiversity during the Middle Jurassic, indicating a global presence for neosauropods by that time.”
The Ceratocaudia Antiqua fossils were excavated from the Kaladongal Formation in the Kutch Valley, western India, yielding a total of 181 fragments, including vertebrae, ribs, and limbs, believed to belong to a single individual.
The fossil deposits date from the Pliensbachian period of the Early Jurassic to the Bajocian period of the Middle Jurassic, making precise dating challenging. Ceratocaudia Antiqua could potentially date back 190 million years.
The fossil collection is housed at the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Utilizing advanced digital reconstruction techniques, researchers modeled the musculature of Ceratocaudia Antiqua‘s tail based on comparisons with modern crocodiles and lizards.
The study suggests that this species could keep its tail horizontally aligned and execute forceful lateral swings, possibly serving as a defense mechanism against predators. “The hypothetical model of Ceratocaudia Antiqua indicates that sauropod tails may have acted as a mild deterrent against predators, despite lacking specialized adaptations like flagellated tails,” the researchers noted.
Phylogenetic analyses position Ceratocaudia Antiqua as an early branch of the Macronaria, making it one of the earliest diagnosable neosauropods discovered globally.
Alongside two Chinese species, Dachampsaurus dongi and Prunus crenensis, evidence suggests that neosauropods had achieved a global distribution prior to the Bajosian period of the Jurassic.
“Kutchi sauropods represent some of the earliest neosauropods and contribute significantly to the limited global record of Early to Middle Jurassic neosauropods,” the researchers concluded.
The findings are detailed in their paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology this month.
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Abhishek Natarajan et al.. A new small Jurassic neosauropod excavated from the Kaladongal Formation (Kadir Uplift) in the Kachhi Basin, western India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology published online on July 16, 2026. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2026.2677749
Source: www.sci.news
