Yanbeilong
Yanbeilong is an extinct genus of stegosaurian dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous Zuoyun Formation of Shanxi, China. The genus contains a single species, Yanbeilong ultimus, known from a single partial skeleton including several vertebrae and the pelvic girdle. It is one of the youngest known stegosaurs, alongside Mongolostegus from Mongolia and unnamed stegosaurine remains from the Hekou Group of China, both of which date to the Aptian–Albian ages.
Discovery and naming
The Yanbeilong holotype specimen, Shanxi [Museum of Geology|SXMG] V 00006, was discovered in 2011 in sediments of the Zuoyun Formation near Madaotou Township in Zuoyun County of Datong City, Shanxi Province, China. The specimen consists of the sacrum, both ilia, the left ischium, right pubis, seven dorsal vertebrae, and a caudal vertebra.In 2024, Lei Jia and colleagues described Yanbeilong ultimus as a new genus and species of stegosaur based on these fossil remains. The generic name, "Yanbeilong", combines the Chinese "Yanbei", meaning "North of Yanmen Pass"—referencing the general area of the type locality—and "long", meaning "dragon". The specific name, "ultimus", is a Latin word meaning "last", referencing the fact that this taxon represents a late-surviving member of the stegosaur lineage.