New dinosaur genus discovered in Yunnan

(ECNS) -- A dinosaur fossil discovered in 2007 in southwest China's Yunnan Province has been identified as a new genus of Lishulong wangi, a species of early Jurassic sauropodomorph, according to the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology on Monday.

Displayed in Lufeng Dinosaur Museum, the fossil, including a complete skeleton of the head and 9 cervical vertebrae, was retrieved from the middle-upper part of Jurassic Lufeng Formation.

Researchers found that Lishulong wangi shares morphological characteristics with known sauropodomorphs and belongs to an early-diverging group within the sauropodomorphs after years of research.

Lishulong wangi possesses the largest skull among sauropodomorph members in the Lufeng Formation, at approximately 40 centimeters long, marking the largest individual reported from the region to date. This discovery enriches diversity of dinosaurs in southwest China and improves our understanding of the evolutionary characteristics of early-diverging sauropodomorphs.

Paleobiogeographic analysis suggests that sauropodomorphs experienced rapid dispersal across China during the early Jurassic period and maintained a sustained diversity advantage. Furthermore, groups closely related to the origins of sauropodomorphs were present in southwest China during this period.

Eight species under six genera of early Jurassic sauropodomorph have been unearthed from Lufeng Formation in Yunnan.