Open Paleo

Daurlong

Wang et al., 2022 da-wur-long

Named after the Daur people (Daur Autonomous Banner of Inner Mongolia, China, where the fossils were found) + Chinese long (龙, 'dragon'), meaning 'Daur dragon'.

125.8–113.2 million years ago Barremian–Aptian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Daurlong is an extinct genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Longjiang Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, D. wangi, known from a nearly complete skeleton. Daurlong represents the first described occurrence of a preserved intestinal region in a theropod closely related to birds.

Under dispute

Daurlong is a short-armed Jehol dromaeosaurid recovered by its describers in a clade with Tianyuraptor and Zhenyuanlong, crownward of Microraptorinae and stemward of Eudromaeosauria (Wang and colleagues, 2022), a grouping Wang and colleagues (2026) recover again. The relationships of this clade are weakly supported, and Wang and colleagues (2023) do not recover it, so Daurlong is placed at Dromaeosauridae incertae sedis.

Diagnosis

  1. Large, trapezoid promaxillary recess placed at the rostroventral corner of the antorbital fossa
  2. Maxillary fossa large, shallow and caudodorsally located, so that the pila promaxillaris is wider than the pila interfenestralis
  3. Fan-shaped distal end of first sternal rib, expanded laterodistally, differing from the slender shaft and spoon-shaped distal end in other dromaeosaurids
  4. Slender subnarial ramus of premaxilla extended caudally well beyond the external naris
  5. Stepped transition from the subcutaneous surface of the maxillary ventral ramus to the antorbital fossa

Species

Daurlong wangi Wang et al., 2022

Type species

Named for Wang Junyou, the director of the Inner Mongolia Museum of Natural History.

Holotype
IMMNH-PV00731 , Inner Mongolia Museum
Material
Almost complete dromaeosaurid skeleton.
Horizon
upper Longjiang Formation, Barremian–Aptian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–113.2 million years ago
Locality
Pigeon Hill, Inner Mongolia, China

References

  1. Wang, X.; Cau, A.; Guo, B.; Ma, F.; Qing, G.; Liu, Y. (2022). Intestinal preservation in a birdlike dinosaur supports conservatism in digestive canal evolution among theropods. Scientific Reports 12(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-24602-x wang2022a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the mass estimate.

    paul2024a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate.

    jones2026c
  4. Wang, X.; Cau, A.; Wang, Z.; Yu, K.; Wu, W.; Wang, Y.; Liu, Y. (2023). A new theropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Longjiang Formation of Inner Mongolia (China). Cretaceous Research 151. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105605

    Relays the Pigeon Hill tuff age of about 121 Ma.

    wang2023a
  5. Wang, X.; Ju, S.; Wang, Y. (2019). First zircon U-Pb ages of the Pigeon Hill fossil locality of the Jehol Biota in the Greater Khingan Mountains, Inner Mongolia. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 93(4): 1142-1145. doi:10.1111/1755-6724.14348

    Dates the tuff of the Pigeon Hill fossil-bearing bed at 121.23 ± 0.74 Ma by zircon U-Pb.

    wang2019d
  6. Wang, X.; Ji, Y.; Cau, A.; Kundrát, M.; Liu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Ji, Q. (2026). Independent assembly of the flight apparatus in a non-avian dinosaur clade. Nature Communications 17(1): 10074. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41467-026-77804-6

    Recovered Daurlong with Zhenyuanlong and Tianyuraptor.

    wang2026b