major discovery! A 3-year-old dinosaur juvenile fossil unearthed in Lufeng, Yunnan does not belong to any known species
Recently, the Institute of Vertebrate Evolution of Yunnan University and the Institute of Paleospine and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a 1.7-meter-long dinosaur larval fossil in the Early Jurassic strata of Lufeng, Chuxiong Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Years old, does not belong to any known species.
This is the second time that sauropod dinosaur larvae fossils have been discovered in this area.
The research results were published in "Acta Geology" (English edition).
The research material was discovered by one of the authors of the paper, Ai Tianyu, including part of the skull, complete cervical vertebrae, dorsal vertebrae and metacarpal bones, as well as the distal end of the femur and the proximal end of the tibia.
Bone histological studies show that this specimen is in the early stage of ontogeny.
By comparing with other basic sauropod larvae around the world, researchers believe that the age of the specimen is about 3 years old.
The teeth of the larval fossil are leaf-shaped. It is a kind of herbivorous dinosaur, and its food is mainly ferns and conifers.
The phylogenetic analysis results show that this specimen belongs to the Sauropod, but it is still relatively basic compared to the sauropod and does not belong to any known species. It has a long evolutionary relationship with other basic sauropod dinosaur larvae. This specimen may Belongs to an unknown basic sauropod species.
The sauropod dinosaur fossil group in the Lufeng area of Chuxiong, Yunnan is rich in ancient spine fossils, including 11 effective sauropod genera.
The research also compiled the chronology and biostratigraphy of the Lufeng "red bed" for the first time. The Lufeng Formation belongs to the Lower Jurassic, about 200 million years ago. It is currently the most abundant fossil-bearing Mesozoic in Yunnan Province. Stratum unit.
(CCTV reporter Chen Zheng)