Paleontologists Discover New Species of Ankylosaurid Dinosaur

A new genus and species of ankylosaur has been identified from an articulated and partial skeleton found in 1986 in southern China.

The newly-discovered species was an early member of a family of armored dinosaurs called Ankylosauridae.

Dubbed Huaxiazhoulong shouwen, the ancient animal was approximately 6 m (20 feet) in length.

“Ankylosauria is a diverse clade of quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by parasagittal rows of osteoderms on the dorsolateral surface of the body and a heavily armored skull,” Yunnan University paleontologist Ziheng Zhu and colleagues wrote in their paper.

“Ankylosaurs lived from the Middle Jurassic to the end of the Late Cretaceous epoch.”

“As a subgroup of Ankylosauria, ankylosaurid dinosaurs are currently only found in Asia and North America. In Asia, they were mainly found in Mongolia and northern China.”

The fossilized remains of an adult individual of Huaxiazhoulong shouwen were found in 1986 in the deposits of the Tangbian Formation at Longxi village, Jiangxi province, southern China.

“The deposits are a set of Late Cretaceous strata, represented by an extensive sequence of red mudstones, sandstones and conglomerates,” the researchers wrote.

“This set of strata is classified locally as the Tangbian Formation, which belongs to Guifeng Group.”

“It has yielded some fragments of dinosaurs and dinosaur eggs.”

The specimen dates to the Late Cretaceous epoch, between 84 and 72 million years ago.

Excavated by Guangchang County Museum paleontologists, it consists of an articulated and partial skeleton without skull and mandible.

“Huaxiazhoulong shouwen is the second ankylosaurid species discovered in China’s Jiangxi province,” the scientists wrote in the paper.

“Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Huaxiazhoulong shouwen is a basal member of Ankylosauridae.”

“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 paper was published this month in the journal Historical Biology.

_____

Ziheng Zhu et al. A new ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Jiangxi Province, southern China. Historical Biology, published online November 8, 2024; doi: 10.1080/08912963.2024.2417208