DENVER—Scientists say they’ve found the first complete skeleton of a smallish dinosaur that is an ancestor to sauropods, the largest creatures ever to walk the Earth.
The 30-foot-long skeleton, complete with skull, may help reveal the story of how the 120-foot-long, giant-necked sauropods evolved and became solely plant eaters.
Texas Tech University paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee says the bones were found in southern China. He is presenting preliminary findings of the discovery Sunday at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver.
Chatterjee says the skeleton appears to be that of a new species, which has tentatively been named Yizhousaurus sunae (yee-tzoo-soar-us soo-nee) to honor the local population and a Chinese paleontologist.
