Yunmenglong ruyangensis
"Yunmeng dragon"
- Length
- 20 m (66 ft)
- Period
- Early Cretaceous (125–100.5 Mya)
- Place
- China
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Yunmenglong (meaning “Yunmeng dragon”, after the Yunmengshan area where it was found) is an extinct genus of somphospondylan sauropod known from the late Early Cretaceous of Henan Province, central China. Its remains were discovered in the Haoling Formation of the Ruyang Basin. The type species is Yunmenglong ruyangensis, described in 2013 by Junchang Lü et al. on the basis of an incomplete postcranial skeleton. Yunmenglong shares some characters with Euhelopus, Qiaowanlong, and Erketu; a phylogenetic analysis places it as a sister taxon of Qiaowanlong, both grouped with Erketu in a position more derived than Euhelopus but basal to Titanosauria.
What we know
- Named by Lü et al., 2013.
- Body length estimated at about 20 m.
- Fossils found in China.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Yunmenglong — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.