Long-necked dinosaur named from fossils found in northeast Thailand
Paleontologists in Thailand have formally named a new long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur from fossils recovered in Kalasin Province in the country’s northeast, according to a study published in Nature. The animal measured up to about 20 meters (66 feet) — roughly the length of a cricket pitch — and lived some 150 million years ago.
The bones came from a site first identified in 2008, when a local resident found fragments that resembled snake scales. The lead author, Apirat Nilphanaphan of Mahasarakham University, said an unusual air-cavity structure in the skeleton set the specimen apart from other known dinosaurs. Researchers describe it as the first mamenchisaurid — a group of exceptionally long-necked sauropods — to be formally named from Thailand, adding to the picture of how these giants spread across Jurassic-era Asia.