Yongjinglong

Yongjinglong was a medium-sized sauropod dinosaur that inhabited northwest China during the Early Cretaceous period. It is represented by a partial skeleton of a subadult individual, which preserves three teeth, several articulated vertebrae from the neck and back, ribs, and an intact left scapulocoracoid. The shoulder blade was exceptionally elongated, measuring nearly two metres in length, which indicates that even in non-adults this animal carried a tall shoulder posture. Yongjinglong possessed spoon-shaped teeth adapted for cropping foliage from conifers and cycads. In phylogenetic studies it is typically classified as an advanced somphospondylan closely related to Euhelopus. Its discovery helps illuminate the rich diversification of sauropods across East Asian river systems during the Early Cretaceous.

Its shoulder blade was exceptionally long, spanning nearly two metres despite belonging to a subadult individual.

Where and when

Yongjinglong lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 125 to 113 million years ago (Aptian age). Its remains come from China, in the Hekou Group.

The numbers

Length 17 m (estimates run from 15 to 18 m). Mass about 12 t. Hip height about 3.8 m. That is 9.7 human-lengths, or 1.47 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.

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