Science and technology reporter Wei Yichen
On January 31, the reporter learned from the Jiangxi Provincial Geological Museum that Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province discovered and named a new genus and species of sauropod dinosaurs living more than 90 million years ago - Coelotail Gandi Giant Dragon, which is of great significance for studying the evolution and paleogeographic distribution of such dinosaurs in the Cretaceous. The research results were published in the international academic journal Journal of Systematic Paleontology on January 17.
Reconstruction of the cavity-tailed Gandi dragon. Illustrated by Zhao Chuang.
The reporter learned that the genus and species of the cocoletail Gandi giant dragon are different from other sauropod dinosaurs, and the vertebral arches and nerve spines of the anterior caudal vertebrae have well-developed chambers, and the nerve spines of the six caudal vertebrae are still bifurcated. Because of this, researchers named it "Cocotailed Gandi Giant Dragon" for its special structure of "cavity-tailed".
Tang Senjin, director of the Jiangxi Provincial Geological Museum, said that in June 2021, during the construction of a small hillside in Ganxian District, Ganzhou City, large bone fossils were accidentally discovered. The Jiangxi Provincial Geological Museum and the Institute of Basic Geological Survey of the Jiangxi Provincial Geological Survey and Exploration Institute jointly carried out rescue excavations. Professional repairers carried out fine repairs to the fossil at the Basic Geological Survey Institute of Jiangxi Provincial Geological Survey and Exploration Institute. Subsequently, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units started fossil sorting and restoration research.
The fossil skeleton correlation and high integrity found this time are of great significance for studying the evolution and geographical distribution of sauropod dinosaurs in the Cretaceous. Han Fenglu, an associate professor at the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) who led the study, said the newly discovered named coel-tailed Gandi dinosaur is the most well-preserved sauropod dinosaur in the region so far, providing important information about the early evolution of this type of dinosaur.
Its completeness and delicacy are rare among the world's most excavated Cretaceous sauropod fossils. Han Fenglu said.
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