Early Sauropod Dinosaur: First Complete Skeleton Found

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The first complete skeleton of an early proto sauropod has been found in China, providing a glimpse of what the common ancestor of all those colossal, four-legged dinosaurs that came later may have looked like.

Tentatively named Yizhousaurus sunae, it lived 200 million years ago on the plains of what is today the Yunnan Province of southern China. Yizhousaurus was 30 feet long and already had the signature sauropod long neck, heavy-duty skeleton and four-legged stance.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101028121106.htm

Unlike the 120-foot-long, 100-ton sauropod giants that came later, Yizhousaurus was about 30 feet in length, but it shows all of the hallmarks of later sauropods: the beginning of a long neck, a robust skeleton and four-legged posture. It also comes with an intact fossilized skull -- which is very rare and crucial for understanding its place in the evolution of sauropods.

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Yizhousaurus's skull is broad, high and domed, less than a foot long with a short snout, eye sockets on the sides for scanning enemies. It has an unusually wide and U-shaped jaw, in top view, like that seen in later Camarasaurus, said Chatterjee. Numerous serrated and spoon-shaped teeth of the upper and lower jaws would shear and slide past each other for cutting plant material during feeding. The sturdy teeth and raised neck let the animal very easily nip small branches from treetops and then chew the plant material.

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