Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a new genus and species of early eusauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic period of China.
Mamenchisaurus youngi, a sister species of Huashanosaurus qini. Image credit: Steveoc 86 / CC BY-SA 2.5.
Named Huashanosaurus qini, the new dinosaur species is estimated to have been around 12 m (39 feet) long.
It lived in what is now China’s Guangxi autonomous region from the Early to Middle Jurassic, 200 to 162 million years ago.
“Jurassic sauropods are well represented in China, especially in Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing and Xinjiang, with only a few localities known in Gansu, Ningxia, Anhui, Tibet and Guizhou,” said lead author Dr. Jinyou Mo from the Natural History Museum of Guangxi and colleagues.
“In Guangxi, the Jurassic record of dinosaur fossils is poor, compared with the Cretaceous dinosaur fossil record.”
Two specimens of Huashanosaurus qini — including a partial skeleton — were collected at Huqiu Quarry of the Wangmen Formation near Dongshi village in Guangxi, southern China.
Some bony fish scales and teeth (possibly Lepidotes sp.), several incomplete plesiosaurian teeth, and several fragmentary dinosaur bones were found at the site.
“The geological age of the Wangmen Formation is under debate,” the paleontologists said.
“It was originally regarded as early Early Jurassic, but paleontological evidence was lacking.”
“Scientists regarded it as the Early to Middle Jurassic based on the discovery of charophytes from this formation.”
According to the team, Huashanosaurus qini is a basal member of the Eusauropoda, a derived group of sauropod dinosaurs.
“It is the second eusauropod from Guangxi,” the researchers said.
“The first described eusauropod, Jingia dongxingensis, was excavated from the Late Jurassic Dongxing Formation.”
The discovery of Huashanosaurus qini provides additional information about the evolutionary radiation of eusauropod dinosaurs.
“Huashanosaurus qini is later-diverging than the Early Jurassic Vulcanodon, Tazoudasaurus, and Gongxianosaurus, as well as the Early to early Middle Jurassic Barapasaurus,” the scientists said.
“Generally, it is recognized that the major radiation of eusauropods occurred during the end of the Early Jurassic and Middle Jurassic interval.”
“From this point of view, the discovery of the eusauropod Huashanosaurus qini provides additional evidence for an Early to Middle Jurassic age for the Wangmen Formation.”
The findings were published in the journal Acta Geologica Sinica.
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Jinyou Mo et al. 2025. A New Eusauropod Dinosaur from the Lower and Middle Jurassic Wangmen Formation of Ningming County, Guangxi, South China. Acta Geologica Sinica 99 (4): 909-924; doi: 10.1111/1755-6724.15331