The reporter learned from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that the scientific expedition team led by Wang Xiaolin, a researcher at the institute, found large dinosaur fossils for the first time in the Hami pterosaur fauna in Xinjiang. As a result, chinese and Brazilian scientists collaborated to establish two new dinosaur species, "Chinese Silk Road Dragon" and "Xinjiang Hami Dragon". The relevant results have been published online on the 12th in the international journal "Scientific Reports" under the umbrella of Nature.
Chinese Silk Road Dragon Orthotype Specimen (Courtesy of Institute of Ancient Spine, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
According to the researchers, the 3 fossils found this time belong to sauropods, and the 3 fossils are incomplete, namely 6 associated cervical vertebrae and cervical ribs, 7 associated tail vertebrae and a broken recommended vertebrae. Based on the first two fossil specimens, the researchers established a new genus of "Chinese Silk Road Dragon" and a new genus of "Xinjiang Hami Dragon" of the dragon class, and commemorated the great Silk Road with the name of the new genus.
Schematic diagram of the bones of the Chinese Silk Road Dragon (red) and the Xinjiang Hami Dragon (yellow) and unnamed fossils (green) (painted by Maurilio Oliveira, courtesy of the Ancient Spine Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences)
According to reports, the length of the 6 cervical vertebrae of the Chinese Silk Road Dragon is about 3 meters, and its body length is conservatively estimated to be more than 20 meters; the length of the single tail vertebra of the Xinjiang Hami Dragon ranges from 210 mm to 320 mm, and the conservative estimation of the body length is about 17 meters. Also preserved with the Chinese Silk Road dragon is a fragment of the jaw of Hami Pterosaurus, suggesting that these large dinosaurs lived with Hami Pterosaurus in the sky and land of the Cretaceous period about 130 million to 120 million years ago.
Orthotype specimen of Hami dragon in Xinjiang (courtesy of The Institute of Ancient Spine, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Xinjiang Hami dragon is one of the few sauropod dinosaurs found in Asia. Along with the Xinjiang Hami dragon, there is also the tooth of a theropod dinosaur, which is also the first theropod dinosaur fossil found in the Hami pterosaur fauna. The researchers explained that because no tooth marks of theropod dinosaurs were found on the skeleton of the Hami dragon in Xinjiang, it was not possible to determine whether the theropods ate the corpses of the dragons. Sauropods were all four-legged walking plant-eaters, and the discovery of these large plant-eating dinosaurs and carnivorous theropods greatly increased the species and ecological diversity of the Hami pterosaur fauna.
Ecological restoration map of the Chinese Silk Road Dragon (left) and The Xinjiang Hami Dragon (right) and hami pterosaur fauna (Creation/Zhao Chuang, Scientific Guide/Wang Xiaolin, Photo courtesy of the Institute of Ancient Spine, Chinese Academy of Sciences)
According to reports, Hami, Xinjiang, where the fossils were found, can be described as a veritable "Pterodactyl Eden", where hundreds of millions of pterosaurs have flourished. The dinosaur fossils studied this time are the first non-pterosaur vertebrates found in the Hami pterosaur fauna.
Curatorial/Poster Maker: Gemdale
Reporters: Gemdale and Dong Ruifeng
Source: Xinhua News Agency