A great number of dinosaur fossils have been discovered in China’s northwest region in recent years and a new study confirms that the region has yielded two fossils of previously unknown dinosaurs the size of blue whales.
The two new species, which are named Silutitan sinensis and Hamititan xinjiangensis, were discovered and announced by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Museum of Brazil. The Silutitan specimen is estimated to be over 20 meters long and the Hamititan specimen was 17 meters (55.77 feet) long.
Both of the species were the first vertebrates in the region and belong to the sauropod family. They have been dated to the early Cretaceous period, about 120 to 130 million years ago.
The two fossils contribute to China’s growing golden age of paleontology一new and exciting fossils have been found across the country with increasing frequency in recent years. These new species contribute to our understanding of the animals that came before us on this earth.
Source study: Scientific Reports – The first dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Hami Pterosaur Fauna, China
Image source: CNN
