Dino card No. 1942 of 2,027

Xingxiulong

Say it: SHING-shee-oh-long

Name means: “Xingxiu Bridge dragon”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Jurassic

Xingxiulong was a long-necked plant-eater that lived in China during the Early Jurassic. It walked on two legs and had a strong, heavy body like a small sauropod. Three skeletons were found buried together, including two adults and a teenager.2 1

Lived

201 to 175 million years ago3

Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, China2 1

Food

Plants3 1

Length

4 to 5 m2 1

Height

1 to 1.5 m2 1

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 3 bicycles in a rowas long as 28 bananas end to endup to the handle of a door

How big was Xingxiulong compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Xingxiulong had four vertebrae in its sacrum (hip region), which is a feature usually seen in true sauropods.2 1

Its pubis (hip bone) had a very long top plate, about 40% of the total length of the bone.2

Xingxiulong was bipedal, meaning it walked on two legs, unlike later sauropods that used all four legs.1

The three skeletons were found together in purple silty mudstone from the Shawan Member of the Lufeng Formation.2 1

One skeleton was about 14% smaller than the others and had unfused vertebrae, showing it was a subadult.2 1

Xingxiulong is one of the oldest and most primitive members of the group Sauropodiformes, which includes all sauropods.2

Its name comes from the ancient Xingxiu Bridge in Lufeng County, built during the Ming Dynasty.2 1

AI-made picture of Xingxiulong — An AI-made picture of how Xingxiulong might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Xingxiulong

?How big was Xingxiulong?

About 4 to 5 metres (13 to 16 ft) long and 1 to 1.5 metres (3.3 to 4.9 ft) tall at the hip for the first species. A second species was larger, at 8 to 10 metres (26 to 33 ft) long.1 2

?Did Xingxiulong walk on two legs?

Yes, it was bipedal. Unlike later sauropods that used all four legs, Xingxiulong walked on two legs.1 2

?What did Xingxiulong eat?

It was a plant-eater. Its strong, heavy body and large gut helped it digest tough plants.1

?When did Xingxiulong live?

It lived during the Early Jurassic, about 200 million years ago, in what is now China.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Xingxiulong
Named by: Wang et al. 20173
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Sauropodiformes3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha3
Age of the rocks: 201 to 175 million years (Hettangian / Toarcian)3
Rock formations: Lufeng3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Xingxiulong was named in 2017 by Wang, You, and Wang. The fossils were dug up in 2013 near Sankeshu Village in Lufeng County, China.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether Xingxiulong was more closely related to Jingshanosaurus or to other sauropodiformes.1

Where the facts come from

Xingxiulong (en.wikipedia.org)
A new basal sauropodiform dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China | Scientific Reports (nature.com)
Xingxiulong in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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