Open Paleo

Datonglong

Xu et al., 2016 dah-tong-long

From Datong (the city in Shanxi, China near the discovery site) + Chinese long (龍), 'dragon'; means 'Datong dragon'

100.5–72.2 million years ago Cenomanian–Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Datonglong is an extinct genus of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur, belonging to the Hadrosauroidea, which lived in the Late Cretaceous period in present-day China. Its type species is Datonglong tianzhenensis.

Diagnosis

  1. Two functional teeth in each alveolus along at least the mid- and caudal dentary occlusal plane (autapomorphy)
  2. Distally offset primary ridge on the enameled lingual surface of dentary tooth crown
  3. Well-developed secondary ridge on the lingual surface of dentary tooth crown
  4. No additional ridge(s) beyond the primary and secondary ridges on the lingual crown surface
  5. Slightly distally curved apical half of the primary ridge

Species

Datonglong tianzhenensis Xu et al., 2016

Type species

Named for Tianzhen County in Shanxi Province, China, where the holotype jaw was found.

Holotype
SXMG V 00005 , Shanxi Museum of Geology
Material
Almost complete right dentary with dentition
Horizon
Huiquanpu Formation, Cenomanian–Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Kangdailiang Quarry, Shanxi, China

References

  1. Xu, S. C.; You, H. L.; Wang, J. W.; Wang, S. Z.; Yi, J.; Jia, L. (2016). A new hadrosauroid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Tianzhen, Shanxi Province, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 54(1): 67-78. xu2016a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate.

    jones2026a