A 169 million-year-old stegosaurus fossil was found near the city of Chongqing in southwestern China.The remains were recovered at a major excavation site in Yunyang County, Chongqing. Chinese and British paleontologists have identified the find as a new species of stegosaurus.
"This is the oldest stegosaurus specimen ever found in Asia and one of the earliest discovered in the world," said Dai Hui, a researcher from the Chongqing Department of Geology and Mineral Exploration.
Judging by the recently found fossils, which include bones of the back, shoulders, legs and ribs, as well as armor plates, the new species was about 3 meters long and 2 meters high, with two pairs of large bone spikes at the end of the tail, he continued.
The researchers gave it the name Bashanosaurus primitivus. "Bashan" is the ancient name of the Chongqing district, and the Latin word primitivus means "first", RIA Novosti reports.
"Bashanosaurus Primitivus provides new physical evidence for studying the origin of stegosaurus," the researcher noted.
A scientific article about this discovery was published on March 4 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
China is rich in fossils of various stegosaur species, accounting for about 40% of all found remains in the world, the scientist said.
