Open Paleo

Qijianglong

Xing et al., 2015 chee-jee-yahn-long

Named after Qijiang District in Chongqing, China, where fossils were discovered, combined with Chinese 'long' (dragon).

Qijianglong is a genus of herbivorous mamenchisaurid sauropod dinosaurs. It is known from the Suining Formation of China, which is of a debated age (reported as Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous using different methods). The genus contains a single species, Qijianglong guokr, known from a partial skeleton including cranial bones, most of the neck and tail, and other associated elements.

Diagnosis

  1. Plate-like basipterygoid process oriented anteroventrally with accessory tuber paralleling basal tuber
  2. Finger-like process lateral to postzygapophyses in cervical vertebrae extending from axis to at least 14th cervical
  3. Pneumatopores in spinodiapophyseal fossa in posterior cervical vertebrae (17th cervical)
  4. Pubis anteriorly concave such that distal end points more anteriorly than ventrally
  5. Parietal forming entire anterior margin of supratemporal fenestra
  6. Absence of frontoparietal fenestra and presence of postparietal foramen

Species

Qijianglong guokr Xing et al., 2015

Type species

Named for Guokr (果壳网), a Chinese scientific social network, meaning 'nutshell' in Chinese.

Holotype
QJGPM 1001 , Qijiang Petrified Wood and Dinosaur Footprint National Geological Park Museum
Material
Skull consisting of skull roof, braincase, right pterygoid, fragments of right antorbital elements (lacrimal, maxilla, palatine, ectopterygoid), right postorbital, right quadrate; complete cervical series; thoracic dorsal series; distal caudal series; numerous neural arch and rib fragments; hemal arch fragments; left pubis; pedal phalanx
Horizon
Suining Formation, Late Jurassic
Locality
Beidu site, Chongqing, China

References

  1. Xing, L.; Miyashita, T.; Zhang, J.; Li, D.; Ye, Y.; Sekiya, T.; Wang, F.; Currie, P. J. (2015). A new sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China and the diversity, distribution, and relationships of mamenchisaurids. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35(1): e889701. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.889701 xing2015a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Sauropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026b