Evrim Yazgin
Cosmos science journalist
Palaeontologists have identified a new species of dinosaur from a Chinese fossil which was dug up in 1986.
Huaxiazhoulong shouwen is a member of the ankylosaurid group, which most famously includes Ankylosaurus. These “walking tanks” had rows of fused bones protruding out of their skins, thought to make them virtually impenetrable.
Some species, including Huaxiazhoulong had massive clubs on the ends of their tails which were likely used to injure would-be attackers.
The recently identified fossil specimen was a fully grown adult. At about 6m long and about 1.5m tall, Huaxiazhoulong is one of the largest ankylosaurs. It lived during the late Cretaceous, 84–72 million years ago.
Among the bones are the animal’s vertebrae, tail and legs. The head of the creature has not been found. The fossils were uncovered at the Tangbian Formation in southeast China’s Jiangxi Province nearly 40 years ago. The bones have been housed in Jiangxi Provincial Museum.
The new analysis is published in the journal Historical Biology.
Ankylosaurs are known only from the northern hemisphere – North America, Europe and Asia. Huaxiazhoulong is the second to be found in Jiangxi Province and represents an early member of the Asian family of ankylosaurids.
“The finding of Huaxiazhoulong shouwen adds diversity to the Late Cretaceous of China, and helps elucidate the evolution of ankylosaurid dinosaurs in East Asia,” the authors write.
