New Chinese sauropod (unnamed)

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org

In case this item has not been discussed, here's a news 
item from Xinhuanet (url is all one line):
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2001-12/13/
content_161191.htm

New Genus of Dinosaur Discovered in China 

Xinhuanet 2001-12-13 14:35:17 
   BEIJING, December 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese scientists 
have announced their recent discovery of at least one new 
species of dinosaur, the "sauropoda," which roamed south 
China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region over 100 million 
years ago. 
   Fossil remains of the six-meter-tall creature animal 
along with bones of another dinosaur from the period were 
discovered in sugarcane fields near Nanning, the capital 
Guangxi, said a source from the Chinese Academy of 
Sciences (CAS).
   As analysis of the bones continues, scientists do not 
exclude the possibility of further discoveries by the end 
of the excavation period, which started over four months 
ago, said Zhao Xijin, a CAS scientist, in an interview 
with Xinhua Wednesday.
   Zhao, also a member of an international academy for 
dinosaur studies, said the discovery has provided 
important evidence for scientists worldwide in their 
research of the evolution, distribution, appearance and 
habitat of the dinosaurs that lived in south China over 
100 million years ago.
   According to Zhao, dinosaurs are classified according 
to the size and shape of their pelvises.
   "The newly discovered dinosaur is completely different 
from any other genus known to paleontologists," he said.
   The newly found genus, standing at six meters tall and 
with a length of more than 10 meters, seems to suggest 
that sauropoda dinosaurs were growing taller but shrinking 
in length during last period of their evolution, comparing 
with the mamenchisaurus unearthed in Sichuan Province in 
1957, which was four only meters 
tall and 22 meters long, said Zhao.
   However, the plant-eating sauropodas were giants during 
the dinosaur-abundant Jurassic Period some 145 million to 
208 million years ago, as their smallest brothers were 
about the size of chickens.
   Zhao and his colleagues have also found granules on the 
shank of the dinosaur which are believed to be signs of 
some bone disease. "This may provide a new clue for the 
scientific research on the causes of the dinosaur's 
extinction," he said.
   "Interplanetary collision, climate changes, food 
poisoning,  physiological defects of the animal -- none of 
these alone could have led to the dinosaur's extinction, 
which must have been a result of the interaction of a 
number of events," he said.