A brand new genus and species of sauropod dinosaur has been recognized from a fossilized bone present in China nearly 30 years in the past.
Life restoration of Mamenchisaurus youngi, the best-known member of the household Mamenchisauridae. Image credit score: Steveoc 86 / CC BY-SA 2.5.
The new dinosaur species roamed Earth in the course of the Late Jurassic epoch, roughly 155 million years in the past.
Scientifically named Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis, the animal was as much as 25 m (82 toes) in size.
It was a member of the household Mamenchisauridae, a gaggle of sauropod (herbivorous long-necked) dinosaurs recognized from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Asia and Africa.
“These dinosaurs added extra vertebrae to their necks to elongate them, and in addition to this made each individual neck vertebra longer,” Professor Paul Barrett, a paleontologist within the Department of Earth Sciences at University College London and the Department of Earth Sciences on the Natural History Museum, London, stated in an announcement.
“We don’t know why they did this, but we presume it was either a feeding adaptation or sexual selection.”
Holotype proper forelimb of Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis with particular person parts in approximate anatomical place, proven in anterior view. Scale bar – 200 mm. Image credit score: Upchurch et al., doi: 10.1080/02724634.2021.1994414.
A virtually full forelimb of Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis was recovered from the decrease a part of the Kalazha Formation in Turpan Basin, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China.
“Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis was formally described as a specimen of another similar dinosaur called Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum, but it has a number of features that are not seen in any other sauropod,” Professor Barrett stated.
“For example, it has perhaps the stockiest arms of any known sauropod of this age.”
“That means it would have been really heavily-set in comparison to the other sauropods it lived alongside. If it was a rugby player, it would be a prop forward.”
In addition, Rhomaleopakhus turpanensis had a particularly strong ulna (extra medial of the 2 lengthy bones of the forearm).
“We think that an unusually large chunky projection at the top of its funny bone is associated with a more strongly flexed forelimb, so that the forelimb is held habitually in a slightly bent, rather than straight pose,” Professor Barrett stated.
“We think this means that the forelimb was not just propping the large animal up, but that they might have been doing something interesting with it.”
A paper describing the findings was revealed within the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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Paul Upchurch et al. Re-assessment of the Late Jurassic eusauropod dinosaur Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum Dong, 1997, from the Turpan Basin, China, and the evolution of hyper-robust antebrachia in sauropods. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, revealed on-line December 13, 2021; doi: 10.1080/02724634.2021.1994414