Overview
- Researchers reported the new dinosaur Xiangyunloong fengming in Royal Society Open Science, based on fossils from the Fengjiahe Formation in Yunnan, China.
- The animal lived about 190 million years ago during the Early Jurassic and measured an estimated 9 to 10 meters in length.
- The specimen preserves neck, back and tail vertebrae plus hip bones, allowing size estimates and anatomical comparison with related dinosaurs.
- The team’s analysis places it between earlier sauropodomorphs and later sauropods, marking a transitional step toward the giant long‑necked forms.
- Its short neck and unusually robust, elongated tail suggest a different route to large body size and may have helped it rear to feed, expanding what is known about early dinosaur diversity in southwestern China.