While dinosaurs came a long time before us humans, fossils and modern technology have helped us piece together what dinosaurs may have looked like and even how they might have behaved. It is believed that dinosaurs lived on Earth until around 65 million years ago when a mass extinction occurred. Despite being long extinct, dinosaurs are frequently featured in the media. One of the more memorable examples of this is Michael Crichton’s 1990 book Jurassic Park. Adapted to a movie in 1993, the story features cloned dinosaurs brought to life with the help of DNA found in mosquitoes trapped in amber. At different times, scientists have discovered different species of dinosaur and our knowledge of them are increasing. Recently, a team of palaeontologists from Alberta University has discovered a previously unknown species of dinosaur. They believe that it used to live in China and it has been named ‘Qijanglong’, which means ‘Dragon of Qijang’.
The fossil was discovered in Qijang when a group of workers was digging for construction purposes. They saw a series of large bones buried deep under the ground. Further excavations revealed that the bones were of a long-necked dinosaur that has not been discovered yet. Examination of the remains has revealed that this dinosaur might have been 15 meters long and used to live in China 160 million years ago.
These dinosaurs were four-legged and long-necked. They belonged to a group named ‘Mamenchisaurids’ which are known for having an extremely long neck. The length of their neck was about half of their body. You will be surprised to know how these animals used to bear the weight of this neck! Well, here is the most surprising news. These dinosaurs’ necks were filled with air and so they didn’t face any trouble with them. Still, there were some difficulties with them as these necks were extremely light; sometimes it was difficult for the dinosaurs to manoeuvre. This type of dinosaurs used to roam mostly in Asia. Imagine if they still existed, then what would happen to us!