Paleontology-news

Haolong dongi: A new genus of ornithopod dinosaur has been described by Huang and colleagues from a 98% complete, articulated specimen from China dating to the Early Cretaceous (Barremian).

In addition to the skin impressions, similar to those of other hadrosaurs, the authors note in Haolong dongi the presence of numerous hollow keratinous structures, similar to spines. These structures are present in three forms, distributed across the animal's body at the chest and pelvis: short, medium, and long. The latter (5 cm long and much sparser) face backward, suggesting a defensive use.

The specimen, fossilized on its left side in an opisthotonic position, is osteologically attributable to a juvenile; this suggests that the presence of these structures could have varied during ontogeny.

H. dongi also features large, overlapping (imbricated) scales on the dorsal portion of its tail, which become smaller at the tip of the tail and also occupy the ventral portion. This further confirms the incredible development of defensive autopomorphies in this new taxon.