Chinese and British paleontologists have identified a new species of dinosaur belonging to the stegosaur family in China.
Bashanosaurus primitivus – the oldest stegosaur dinosaur in Asia.
This dinosaur is believed to be the oldest stegosaur ever found in Asia and one of the earliest species excavated globally.
In a study published on March 4 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, paleontologists described the remaining fossils of a herbivorous stegosaur, including vertebrae, shoulder bones, thigh bones, feet, ribs, and some hard armor plates. The fossils date back to the Bajocian stage of the Middle Jurassic, significantly older than most known stegosaur species.
According to scientists, the newly discovered dinosaur had four legs and was relatively small, measuring approximately 2.8 meters from snout to tail. This dinosaur appeared around 168 million years ago. It has yet to be determined whether these fossils belong to an adult or juvenile dinosaur.
The scientists named the new dinosaur species Bashanosaurus primitivus. “Bashan” is the ancient name for the Chongqing area in China, where the new dinosaur was discovered, while “primitivus” in Latin means “first.”
