Open Paleo

Gongshuilong

Yao et al., 2026 gohng-SHWAY-long

From "Gongshui" (the Gong River, near the discovery site in Jiangxi, China) and Chinese "long" (dragon); meaning "Gong River dragon".

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Gongshuilong is an extinct genus of saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) Lianhe Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, Gongshuilong fanwei, known from a bonebed representing the disarticulated remains of at least two individuals. Gongshuilong is a member of the group Brachylophosaurini within the Hadrosauridae, and it is the second member of this otherwise North American clade, following Wulagasaurus, found in Asia. It is also the first hadrosaurid to be named from fossils found in South China. Gongshuilong is characterized by the uniquely elongated and curved neural spines of the vertebrae at the end of the tail, forming a tall, sail-like structure.

Diagnosis

  1. Greatly elongate, moderately recurved, posterodorsally directed neural spines on the posterior caudal vertebrae, about 8.5 times as tall as their corresponding centra, forming a sail-like structure along the tail.
  2. Extremely shortened edentulous margin of the dentary, with a margin-to-tooth-row length ratio of about 0.05, markedly lower than in other saurolophids.
  3. Poorly developed deltoid ridge on the lateral surface of the proximal scapula, unlike the condition in other saurolophines.

Species

Gongshuilong fanwei Yao et al., 2026

Type species

Named for the species' prominent sail-like tail, formed by the elongated, curved neural spines of the distal caudal vertebrae.

Holotype
BGS-JX F001-1 , Basic Geological Survey Institute of the Jiangxi Geological Survey and Exploration Institute
Material
A right dentary; paratype a partial skull preserving the left jugal and quadrate.
Horizon
middle Lianhe Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Zhutongkeng, Jiangxi, China The Lianhe Formation belongs to the Guifeng Group, and older work on the Ganzhou Basin lumped its fine-grained units into the upper Nanxiong Formation.

References

  1. Yao, H.; Qiu, W.; Yu, J.; Yang, L.; Wang, H.; Cao, S.; Zhao, K.; Xu, M.; Shi, G.; Lou, F.; Zeng, C.; Lu, P.; Wu, R.; Xu, X.; Han, F.; Xing, H. (2026). A new saurolophine hadrosaurid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of South China, providing further support for the possible Asian origin of Brachylophosaurini. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 24(1): 2635569. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2026.2635569

    Erects Gongshuilong fanwei; source of the body length estimate.

    yao2026a