Dino of the Week: Xingxiulong

Type Species: Xingxiulong chengi

Classification: Dinosauria - Saurischia – Prosauropoda

Time Period: Early Jurassic

Location: China

Diet: Herbivore

The Hettangian stage Early Jurassic prosauropod Xingxiulong was discovered in 2017 when three specimens – two adults and a juvenile (known to be such because of the third’s incomplete vertebral fusion) – were uncovered in China. The adults measured thirteen to sixteen feet in length and reached between three feet and nearly five feet in height (making them relatively small when compared to their large sauropodomorph cousins). Despite their small size, they share similarities with the titanic sauropods: like sauropods, their hips, femurs, and feet were particularly robust. These suggest that it had a large gut and high body mass. However, it would’ve also been capable of assuming a bipedal stance, as sauropodan adaptations to quadrupedalism – such as relatively longer forelimbs – aren’t present. Because of the assemblage of fossils, it’s assumed these ‘small-sized’ prosauropods traveled in family groupings.