Scientists in China have discovered a new species of dinosaur that lived around 165 million years ago.
The new species, named Jinchuanloong niedu, was a type of long-necked dinosaur, or sauropod, and it offers important clues about how these gentle giants evolved during the Middle Jurassic period.
The fossil was found in Gansu Province in northwestern China by a research team led by the China University of Geosciences.
What makes this discovery especially exciting is that it includes a nearly complete skull—something very rare for this type of dinosaur.
Most fossils from this time period are missing the head, making it hard for scientists to study how these animals looked and how they evolved.
In this case, the researchers found not only the skull and lower jaw, but also bones from the neck and tail.
Jinchuanloong niedu belongs to a group called eusauropods, which includes most of the famous long-necked dinosaurs we know today.
These dinosaurs survived a major extinction event during the Early Jurassic and later evolved into giants like Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus.
However, Jinchuanloong is not part of that more advanced group, known as neosauropods. Instead, it sits just outside of it, showing a mix of both primitive and more advanced features.
The fossil was found in rock layers from the Middle Jurassic period, known as the Xinhe Formation.
The team studied the bones in detail and compared them with other known species.
They found some features that make Jinchuanloong unique, such as an opening near the base of a facial bone, a special shape of the bones around the eyes, and spoon-shaped teeth, which are similar to those of other sauropods like Shunosaurus and Turiasaurus.
The tail bones suggest the dinosaur was still growing at the time it died, so it may have been a juvenile or subadult. Even so, the estimated length of the dinosaur is about 10 meters—roughly the size of a city bus.
This discovery helps fill in gaps in our understanding of dinosaur evolution in East Asia, especially during the Middle Jurassic, a time when sauropods were becoming more diverse. The skull in particular gives scientists a rare look at how the heads of these early long-necked dinosaurs were shaped and how they might have lived.
The researchers say Jinchuanloong niedu adds to the growing picture of sauropod diversity in ancient China and shows just how much more we still have to learn about these fascinating animals.
