Qiaowanlong
Named after Qiaowan, the area in Gansu Province, China where the fossil was found, combined with Chinese long (dragon); meaning "Qiaowan dragon".
Qiaowanlong is an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur. Fossils belonging to the genus were found in the Yujingzi Basin of what is today Gansu Province, China. The remains come from a geological formation called the Xiagou Formation in the Xinminpu Group, dating to the late Aptian Stage of the Early Cretaceous.
Diagnosis
- Low elongation index (EI) ratio of 3.0–3.6 (central length/cotyle height), lower than Brachiosaurus brancai and Sauroposeidon
- Deeply bifurcated cervical neural spines in both cranial and caudal views
- Three fossae on lateral surface of centrum middle portion
- Much reduced ischium with shaft width ~50% and length ~70% of pubis
- Long pubic process of ischium occupying ~60% of shaft length
Species
Qiaowanlong kangxii You & Li, 2009
Type species
Named for the Kangxi Emperor, the second emperor of the Qing dynasty, who was said to have had dreams of the Qiaowan area near where the fossil was discovered.
- Holotype
- FRDC GJ 07-14 , The Fossil Research and Development Center of the Third Geology and Mineral Resources Exploration Academy of Gansu Provincial Bureau of Geo-exploration and Mineral Development
- Material
- Series of eight articulated cervical vertebrae (C4-C11) and right pelvic girdle with associated bone fragments
- Horizon
- upper Xiagou Formation, Aptian, Early Cretaceous , 121.4–113.2 million years ago
- Locality
- Yujingzi Basin, Gansu, China
References
- You, H. L.; Li, D. Q. (2009). The first well-preserved Early Cretaceous brachiosaurid dinosaur in Asia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 276(1675): 4077-4082. The Royal Society. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1278 you2009b
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Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.
Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.
jones2026b -
Suarez, M. B.; Milder, T.; Peng, N.; Suarez, C. A.; You, H.; Li, D.; Dodson, P. (2018). Chemostratigraphy of the Lower Cretaceous dinosaur-bearing Xiagou and Zhonggou formations, Yujingzi Basin, northwest China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 38(sup1): 12-21. doi:10.1080/02724634.2018.1510412
Assigns the gray-variegated beds of the Yujingzi Basin to the uppermost Xiagou Formation.
suarez2018a