A team of paleontologists has identified a new species of armored dinosaur, a fearsome creature that once roamed the ancient landscapes of China.
A team led by Yunnan University has named this new species Huaxiazhoulong shouwen.
In 1986, the fossilized remains of the dinosaur were recovered from the Tangbian geological formation in Longxi village, Jiangxi Province of China.
The fossil was found in deposits dating back to the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 84 to 72 million years ago.
“Huaxiazhoulong shouwen gen. et sp. nov. is a new ankylosaurid recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Tangbian Formation of Jiangxi Province, southern China,” the researchers wrote in the study paper.
Nearly complete fossil
The Newsweek reported that this armored dinosaur likely measured around 20 feet long, and weighed roughly three tons.
Its most striking feature was a powerful, club-like tail. This tail served as a weapon capable of delivering devastating blows to any predator that dared to challenge it.
The nearly complete fossil includes vertebrae, ribs, limb bones, and tail bones.
This newly discovered dinosaur belonged to the Ankylosauridae family, known for their armor and distinctive tail clubs. Ankylosaurids ruled the Earth from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous (165 to 66 million years ago).
Interestingly, it could be the “largest ankylosaur ever found in China.”
“The phylogenetic analysis shows that Huaxiazhoulong shouwen is an early member of Ankylosauridae,” the study noted.
Ankylosaurs were quadrupedal dinosaurs. They had bony plates embedded in their skin and strong limbs to support their weight. These dinosaurs lived in North America, Asia, and Europe during the Late Jurassic and Late Cretaceous periods.
Unique anatomical features
The fossil, remarkably well-preserved, reveals other intriguing details. It is unique due to several distinctive features, including the shape of its caudal vertebrae, scapula, and humerus.
Its shoulder blade hints at well-developed shoulder muscles, possibly used for digging or supporting its massive weight.
The most striking feature of Huaxiazhoulong is its unique ischium, a crucial bone forming the lower part of the hip. The hip bone indicates powerful hind legs, allowing it to move with surprising agility.
Unlike any other ankylosaur, the ischium had a special shape that allowed for enhanced muscle attachment.
“Although some Ankylosaurs also have this structure, it is not as developed as Huaxiazhoulong, indicating that [the dinosaur] had well-developed shoulders, which could better support its body or dig caves,” Ziheng Zhu, the lead author, told Newsweek.
Moreover, the asymmetrical tail club hints at a surprising detail: Huaxiazhoulong may have had a preferred swing direction, much like a left-handed or right-handed human.
This armored dinosaur likely weighed around 3 tons. Interestingly, this dino was a plant-eater, munching on ferns, seeds, and leaves all day long.
This discovery sheds new light on the diversity of dinosaur life during the Late Cretaceous period.
The specimen of this newly identified dinosaur resides in the collection of the Jiangxi Provincial Museum.
The findings were published in the journal Historical Biology.
