Chinese dinosaur had crazy, super-long neck

Chinese paleontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur in Qijiang, outside of Chongqing, after construction workers unearthed a sequence of large neck vertebrae. When the scientists finally put the many vertebrae together, they realized that this dinosaur had one absolutely epic neck.

The area around Chongqing is utterly lousy with dinosaur bones, and has long been a favorite among paleontologists. They dubbed the dino "Qijianglong" (in English, "The Dragon of Qijiang") although we probably would have gone with "Qijianglooooooooong."

The creature was about 45 feet (14 meters) long from tail to nose, about half of which was just neck. According to the scientists who assembled the dino's bones, the Qijianglong's vertebrae were filled with pockets of air (which is unusual for dinosaurs) allowing the monstrous neck not to out-weigh the rest of the animal.

Speaking of hilariously-proportioned dinosaurs, this reminds us of the specimen unearthed in Ganzhou last year, which was dubbed 'Pinocchio Rex' thanks to its massive nose. Chinese dinosaurs really took their Mandarin name "Kong Long" seriously.