'Giraffe of the Mesozoic' unearthed in China

Sydney, September 4 (ANI): Remains of a dinosaur, nicknamed the 'Giraffe of the Mesozoic' due to its long neck and forelimbs, have been discovered in China for the first time.

According to a report by ABC News, Qiaowanlong kangxii, is the first Early Cretaceous brachiosaur ever found in China.

Its name refers to a famous Qing Dynasty emperor, Kangxi, and also contains the words for 'bridge', 'bend in a stream', and 'dragon' - references to the site, as well as a dream the emperor is said to have had.

Brachiosaurs, a family of plant-eating sauropods, are often quite big. One of the largest mounted skeletons in the world is a Brachiosaurus at the Humboldt Museum in Berlin.

The new species is "relatively small" by comparison.

Co-author Dr Hai-Lu You said that the Chinese dinosaur stood at about 12 metres long, 3 metres tall, and weighed around 9 tonnes.

"As a member of the brachiosaurid (family), it has a long neck and relatively long forelimbs," said Hai-Lu, a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing.

Hai-Lu and colleague Dr Da-Qing Li analysed the dinosaur's skeletal remains, which were excavated at the Yujingzi Basin in north-western Gansu Province.

The dinosaur dates to 100 million years ago.

The researchers determined that the dinosaur possessed a bifurcated, or two-part, neural spine.

These are known in other sauropods, but this is the first time the feature has been identified in a brachiosaur.

The structure of its spine, and the rest of the dinosaur's bones, suggest that "its neck should have been held aloft, with a more vertical than horizontal behaviour," said Hai Lu.

That counters recent studies into sauropods, which suggest their ultra long necks were almost parallel to the ground, sweeping back and forth like a metal detector.

Instead, Hai-Lu suggests the animals fed on leaves and other plant materials high above the ground, giving them a less competitive food niche.

Previously, it was thought that sauropods were most prevalent during the Jurassic Period of North America and Africa, with some palaeontologists theorising these dinosaurs underwent a rapid population decline in the Early Cretaceous.

"However, based on recent discoveries, more and more Cretaceous sauropods have been recovered, and many are from Asia," said Hai Lu.

According to Dr Jerry Harris, Director of palaeontology at Dixie State College, "What makes this discovery so important is how it fits into the bigger picture of how dinosaur populations were able to move around globally in the Early Cretaceous," he said. (ANI)