A new sauropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Jiutai,Jilin,China

Abstract

A new sauropod dinosaur,Jiutaisaurus xidiensis gen.et sp.nov.from the Cretaceous Quantou Formation exposed in Xidi village of Jiutai in Jilin,Northeast China,is described in this paper.The remains consist of a series of 18 articulated anterior and middle caudual vertebrae.It is distinguished from other sauropods in its possession of a longitudinal ridge on both sides of the middle caudal centra,amphicoelous anterior and middle caudals,chevrons unforked at their distal ends,and deep chevron haemal canal.The new material from Quantou Formation is significant for better understanding the evolution and distributions of Sauropoda in the Cretaceous.