Wudingloong
"Wuding dragon"
Type species Wudingloong wui
- Lived
- 201 to 193 million years ago, Early Jurassic
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Wang et al. 2025
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
195 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in inland southwestern China as the region became drier in the Early Jurassic. Sandstone and mudstone in the Yubacun Formation record its surroundings.
Field notes
About Wudingloong
What it was like
Wudingloong was a small, early plant eater from the long-necked line that later produced the giant sauropods. It is known from a partial skeleton with a skull.
Its world
It lived in the Early Jurassic in what is now southwestern China. Its bones come from the Yubacun Formation.
How it was found
Wang and colleagues named Wudingloong in 2025, from a single find.
Field gallery
More views of Wudingloong
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
The evidence
The science behind Wudingloong
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton preserves the skull, jaws, neck, front of the back and a forelimb.
- The hand has a large, thick thumb claw, while the upper arm bone is slender.
- Its teeth have coarse serrations along their edges.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing hips, hind legs and tail are restored by comparison with early sauropodomorphs such as Plateosaurus and Xingxiulong.
Still unknown
- The proportions of its hind legs and tail.
- Its skin texture and color.
- How its body changed as it grew.
Discovery timeline
- 2017Close relativeWang, You & Wang
- 2025Named itWang et al.
- 2026Its worldChen et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Wudingloong
Close relative
Described Xingxiulong, another early Chinese sauropodomorph, whose more complete skeleton helps compare the body plans of these early plant eaters.
A new basal sauropodiform dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China. Scientific Reports 7
Read the paper : A new basal sauropodiform dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described Wudingloong from a partial skeleton with a skull and an unusually large thumb claw.
A new Early Jurassic dinosaur represents the earliest-diverging and oldest sauropodomorph of East Asia. Scientific Reports 15
Read the paper : A new Early Jurassic dinosaur represents the earliest-diverging and oldest sauropodomorph of East Asia (opens in a new tab)Its world
Traced environmental change through the Yubacun rocks and linked the Wudingloong fossil layer to the Early Jurassic shift toward drier conditions.
Triassic–Jurassic environmental instability on the subtropical eastern Tethyan margin linked to low-latitude dinosaur dispersal. Communications Earth & Environment 7
Read the paper : Triassic–Jurassic environmental instability on the subtropical eastern Tethyan margin linked to low-latitude dinosaur dispersal (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Massopoda
Sources: Wikidata