.2018 Jul 24;9(1):2700.

doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05128-1.

A new Middle Jurassic diplodocoid suggests an earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs

Xing Xu¹, Paul Upchurch², Philip D Mannion³, Paul M Barrett⁴, Omar R Regalado-Fernandez², Jinyou Mo⁵, Jinfu Ma⁶, Hongan Liu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044, Beijing, China. xu.xing@ivpp.ac.cn.
² Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
³ Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
⁴ Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
⁵ Natural History Museum of Guangxi, 530012, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
⁶ Lingwu National Geopark Administration, 750400, Lingwu, Ningxia, China.
⁷ Lingwu Historic Relic Administration, 750400, Lingwu, Ningxia, China.

PMID:30042444
PMCID: PMC6057878
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05128-1

A new Middle Jurassic diplodocoid suggests an earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs

Xing Xu et al. Nat Commun.2018.

.2018 Jul 24;9(1):2700.

doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-05128-1.

Authors

Xing Xu¹, Paul Upchurch², Philip D Mannion³, Paul M Barrett⁴, Omar R Regalado-Fernandez², Jinyou Mo⁵, Jinfu Ma⁶, Hongan Liu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044, Beijing, China. xu.xing@ivpp.ac.cn.
² Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
³ Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
⁴ Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
⁵ Natural History Museum of Guangxi, 530012, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
⁶ Lingwu National Geopark Administration, 750400, Lingwu, Ningxia, China.
⁷ Lingwu Historic Relic Administration, 750400, Lingwu, Ningxia, China.

PMID:30042444
PMCID: PMC6057878
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05128-1

Abstract

The fragmentation of the supercontinent Pangaea has been suggested to have had a profound impact on Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate distributions. One current paradigm is that geographic isolation produced an endemic biota in East Asia during the Jurassic, while simultaneously preventing diplodocoid sauropod dinosaurs and several other tetrapod groups from reaching this region. Here we report the discovery of the earliest diplodocoid, and the first from East Asia, to our knowledge, based on fossil material comprising multiple individuals and most parts of the skeleton of an early Middle Jurassic dicraeosaurid. The new discovery challenges conventional biogeographical ideas, and suggests that dispersal into East Asia occurred much earlier than expected. Moreover, the age of this new taxon indicates that many advanced sauropod lineages originated at least 15 million years earlier than previously realised, achieving a global distribution while Pangaea was still a coherent landmass.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Cranial material ofLingwulong shenqi. Braincase in: left lateral (a), dorsal (b), occipital (c), and ventral (d) views. Dentary teeth in occlusal view (e). The 5th and 6th left dentary tooth crowns in labial view (f). Abbreviations: bpp, basipterygoid process; bt, basal tubera; f, frontal; fps, frontoparietal suture; gt, grooves and tubercles; pf, prefrontal; llp, ‘leaf’-like process; oc, occipital condyle; p, parietal; pcp, capitate process; paf, proatlantal facet; pag, proatlantal groove; pfap, prefrontal anterior process; po, postorbital; povp, postorbital ventral process; pp, paroccipital process; sc, sagittal crest; so, supraoccipital; sq, squamosal; sqhp, squamosal hook-like process; sqvp, squamosal ventral process; stf, supratemporal fenestra; wf, wear facet. Scale bars = 20 mm fora–e and 10 mm forf

**Fig. 2**
Skeletal reconstruction and exemplar skeletal remains ofLingwulong shenqi. Silhouette showing preserved elements (a); middle cervical vertebra in left lateral (b) and anterior (c) views; anterior dorsal vertebra in left lateral (d) and anterior (e) views; posterior dorsal vertebra in lateral view (f); sacrum and ilium in left lateral view (g); anterior caudal vertebra in left lateral (h) and anterior (i) views; right scapulocoracoid in lateral view (j); right humerus in anterior view (k); left pubis in lateral view (l); right ischium in lateral (m) views; right femur in posterior view (n); and right tibia in lateral view (o). Abbreviations: ap, ambiens process; ar, acromial ridge; ip, iliac peduncle; naf, notch anterior to glenoid; np, neural spine; podl, postzygodiapophyseal lamina; ppr, prezygapophyseal process ridge; prp, prezygapophysis; pvf, posteroventral fossa; slf, shallow lateral fossa; spol, spinopostzygapophyseal lamina; sprl, spinoprezygapophyseal lamina; wls, wing-like structure. Scale bars = 100 cm fora and 5 cm forb–o

**Fig. 3**
Time-calibrated evolutionary tree for Eusauropoda. Agreement subtree produced in TNT, with additional diplodocid taxa incorporated (see Supplementary Note 4). All macronarian taxa have been combined into a single lineage, and non-sauropod sauropodomorphs have been removed, in order to enhance clarity (see Supplementary Fig. 13 for the full version of this tree). Silhouettes of dinosaurs drawn by Scott Hartman, Mike Taylor, and Mathew Wedel, and available at Phylopic (http://phylopic.org/) under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Global paleogeographic reconstructions from the Paleobiology Database (https://www.paleobiodb.org)

**Fig. 4**
Paleogeographic maps showing the formation and disappearance of an epicontinental seaway between Europe and Central Asia during the Middle Jurassic through Early Cretaceous.a Middle Jurassic (170 Ma);b Late Jurassic (160 Ma);c Early Cretaceous (138 Ma). The maps are based on ref. . Green indicates land, light blue shallow sea, and deep blue ocean. Abbreviations: R, Russian Platform Sea; T, Turgai Sea

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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A new Middle Jurassic diplodocoid suggests an earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs

Affiliations

A new Middle Jurassic diplodocoid suggests an earlier dispersal and diversification of sauropod dinosaurs

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Molecular Biology Databases