Lingwulong
"Lingwu dragon"
Type species Lingwulong shenqi
- Lived
- 175 to 162 million years ago, Middle Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Sauropods
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Xu et al. 2018
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
170 million years ago
Habitat
Lakes, rivers and swamps crossed its part of China, with conifers and ferns growing nearby.
Field notes
About Lingwulong
What it was like
Lingwulong was a diplodocoid, a sauropod related to Diplodocus and Dicraeosaurus. It had a fairly short neck for a sauropod. It is known from several partial skeletons.
Its world
It lived in the Middle Jurassic, in what is now China.
How it was found
Xu and colleagues named Lingwulong in 2018. The type species is Lingwulong shenqi. It was a surprise: it showed that the diplodocoid line had appeared, and spread into Asia, earlier than many scientists thought.
Field gallery
More views of Lingwulong
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
The evidence
The science behind Lingwulong
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Several partial skeletons together preserve skull bones, teeth and most regions of the body.
- A curved row of teeth suggests a rounded front to the lower jaw.
- The bony spines along part of its neck and back split into paired branches.
Borrowed from relatives
- Most of the body is represented by its own bones, with missing details compared with Dicraeosaurus and other related sauropods.
Still unknown
- The complete length of its neck and tail.
- Its skin color and pattern.
- Whether it regularly traveled in herds.
Discovery timeline
- 2018Named itXu et al.
- 2019Family treeGallina et al.
- 2020Family treeWhitlock & Mantilla
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Lingwulong
Named it
Described Lingwulong and showed that its branch of sauropods had reached Asia much earlier than expected.
A new Middle Jurassic diplodocoid suggests an earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs. Nature Communications 9
Read the paper : A new Middle Jurassic diplodocoid suggests an earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Described Bajadasaurus and compared its place in the family tree with Lingwulong and other sauropods with paired neck spines.
A new long-spined dinosaur from Patagonia sheds light on sauropod defense system. Scientific Reports 9
Read the paper : A new long-spined dinosaur from Patagonia sheds light on sauropod defense system (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Renamed Smitanosaurus and reassessed the relationships of the sauropod family that includes Lingwulong.
The Late Jurassic sauropod dinosaur ‘Morosaurus’ agilisMarsh, 1889 reexamined and reinterpreted as a dicraeosaurid. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 40: e1780600
Read the paper : The Late Jurassic sauropod dinosaur ‘Morosaurus’ agilisMarsh, 1889 reexamined and reinterpreted as a dicraeosaurid (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Flagellicaudata
Sources: Wikidata