New Dinosaur Species, Pulaosaurus qinglong, Unearthed in China, Offers Insights into Early Dinosaur Evolution and Vocalization
Paleontologists have announced the revelation of a new dinosaur species, Pulaosaurus qinglong, found in the Tiaojishan Formation of Qinglong, Hebei province, China. This remarkably well-preserved specimen, consisting of a nearly complete skeleton including most of the skull and the entire postcranial skeleton, provides significant new data about the diversity and evolutionary history of Neornithischia, a major group of ornithischian dinosaurs.
Pulaosaurus qinglong is classified within Neornithischia, a group established in 1985 characterized by a thicker layer of asymmetrical enamel on the inner side of their lower teeth. This group’s earliest origins are believed to date back to the Middle Jurassic, with early-diverging species like Sanxiasaurus, Agilisaurus, and Hexinlusaurus also found in China. Neornithischian fossils have also been reported from the Middle Jurassic of Eastern Europe and scotland, with the group rapidly diversifying into numerous species during the Cretaceous period.
The newly discovered Pulaosaurus qinglong was a small-bodied neornithischian, measuring approximately 72.2 cm in total length, with a skull length of about 8 cm. Its discovery is especially significant as it represents the frist neornithischian found within the Yanliao Biota, helping to bridge temporal and geographical gaps in the distribution of this dinosaur group within China.
Phylogenetic analysis places Pulaosaurus qinglong at the base of Neornithischia, in close proximity to Agilisaurus, which is considered the earliest-diverging neornithischian. This finding sheds new light on the biodiversity of the Yanliao Biota and the evolutionary relationships of early neornithischians.
Furthermore, the holotype specimen of Pulaosaurus qinglong preserves a pair of arytenoids, marking the second instance of an ossified laryngeal apparatus found in non-avian dinosaurs. The presence of these ossified arytenoids in Pulaosaurus qinglong suggests that such structures were present within Neornithischia and potentially widespread across Dinosauria. The morphology of these arytenoids bears a resemblance to those of extant birds, leading researchers to suggest that Pulaosaurus qinglong may have possessed avian-like vocalizations.
The findings regarding Pulaosaurus qinglong have been published in the journal PeerJ.
Reference:
yang, Y. et al. 2025.A new neornithischian dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of northern China. PeerJ 13: e19664; doi: 10.7717/peerj.19664