New breed: The fossils of Gandititan cavocaudatus, in this illustration, were found at a construction site in eastern Jiangxi. — China Daily/ANN
Paleontologists have discovered a new dinosaur species, which suggests the existence of a previously unknown group of titanosaurs in eastern Asia.
The fossils of Gandititan cavocaudatus were found at a construction site in Ganxian district in Ganzhou, East China’s Jiangxi province, in June 2021, the Jiangxi Geological Museum announced on Jan 30. The fossils are thought to date back 90 million years.
The museum collaborated with the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan and Jiangxi Geological Survey and Exploration Institute to restore and research the bones. Han Fenglu, the project’s team leader from the university, said the species is a titanosaurian sauropod.
The bones found include six cervical vertebrae, two partial dorsal vertebrae and a complete sacrum preserved in articulation with the first 17 caudal vertebrae and part of the right pelvis. These bones comprise about 40% of the dinosaur’s skeleton, which is rare to find in such a complete state.
Based on estimates made by the research team, it is believed that the dinosaur had a neck and tail that were each around 5m long. This estimation helped to determine the total body length of the dinosaur was about 14m, which is relatively small compared to other sauropods, according to Han.The skeletal fusion was well-developed, which led researchers to estimate that the newly discovered dinosaur was, at a minimum, in the sub-adult stage.
This discovery, published in the latest edition of the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology on Jan 17, is of immense importance for studying the species’ evolution and geographic distribution during the Cretaceous period.
It suggests the possibility of an unrecognised group of titanosaurs in eastern Asia and potential dispersal of titanosaurs between Asia and South America during the mid-Cretaceous period. — China Daily/ANN
