Earliest Well Preserved Spiked Armor Dinosaur Remains Discovered in China; New Thyreophora Specie Had Unique Skull, Lived 192 Million Years Ago

Paleontologists led by scientists from the Natural History Museum in London discovered the remains of a dinosaur with spiked armor in southwestern China. They named the new species Yuxisaurus kopchicki which lived around 192-174 million years ago during the Early Jurassic period.

Chinese state media CGTN reported that this is the earliest well preserved armored dinosaur found in Asia to date. It has a heavy build, distinctive spike armor, and unique skull features, especially to the bones that surround its brain. The new dinosaur belongs to the Thyreophora species, which includes Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus.

(Photo : GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images)
A spiky Edmontonia dinosaur is positioned by staff at Sydney's Taronga Zoo for the "Dinosaurs in the Wild" exhibition on October 16, 2012.

First Thyreophora Dinosaur From Early Jurassic Period

Researchers detailed in their study, titled "A New Early-Branching Armored Dinosaur From the Lower Jurassic of Southwestern China," published in eLife, the specifications of the remains of the Yuxisaurus kopchicki found in China's Yunnan Province. The team discovered that it was a new species based on the partial skull, axial, limb, and armor they found.

Unilad reported that the first part of the dinosaur's name refers to where they discovered the remains - in the Yuxi Prefecture in China. Meanwhile, the second name is a tribute to Dr. John J. Kopchik for his significant contributions in the field of biology and Indiana University.

They noted in their study that this new taxon represents the first valid Thyreophora dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic period in Asia, confirming the rapid geographic diversity of the clade after it first appeared in the Hettangian.

"Although we've had tantalizing fragments of early armored dinosaurs from Asia, this is the first time we've had enough material to recognize a new species from the region and investigate its evolutionary history," study first author Professor Paul Barrett, Merit Researcher at the Museum, said in a statement he sent to IFL Science.

Senior author Professor Shundong Bi from the University of Pennsylvania said that the dinosaur was most likely quadrupedal, although it might have also been bipedal. While the fossils they found did not give them the whole picture of the dinosaur, they reveal unique structures that are more complete and better preserved, which helped them identify it as a new species.

ALSO READ: Dinosaurs With Long Neck and Tail Had Unique Gait; Sauropods Walked Like Hippopotamus, Study Says

What Were the Thyreophora Dinosaurs?

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Thyreophora dinosaurs include the well-known plated Stegosaurus and armored Ankylosaurus. Their basal relatives were the small bipedal Scutellosaurus that lived during the Early Jurassic Period in Arizona, USA, and the Scelidosaurus.

Scutellosaurus dinosaurs were mistakenly classified as fabrosaurids in the past because of their primitive skeletal features. But they were later properly identified because of some important structures they have, like the small bony plates or scutes that were slightly larger than Scelidosaurus

The first Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus appeared in the Middle and Late Jurassic period and were distinguished by their bony structures like their previously described forms. Whereas ankylosaurs have maintained and elaborated scutes, the stegosaurs have plates and spikes along their backbone. Despite these differences, both Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus have the same basic structure, making them relatives under the Thyreophora species.

RELATED ARTICLE: Ankylosaurs Brain CT Scan Shows Spiky Dinosaurs Are Deaf With Sluggish Movement

Check out more news and information on Paleontology in Science Times.