A dinosaur with spikes exhibiting unprecedented properties discovered in China
Life
Documented for 200 years, the Iguanodontia group is expanding with the discovery of a brand-new species, the first known to bear spikes with properties never before observed in dinosaurs. Scientists from the CNRS1 and their international partners have uncovered in China the fossilised skin of an exceptionally well preserved juvenile iguanodon. Using X-ray scans and high-resolution histological sections, the researchers observed skin cells preserved for 125 million years, revealing the structure of hollow, cutaneous spikes covering a large part of the animal’s body. The scientists named this new species Haolong dongi in honor of Dong Zhiming, a pioneer of Chinese palaeontology.
- 1Working at the laboratoire Géosciences Rennes (CNRS/Université de Rennes). Scientists from the Institut pour l’avancée des biosciences (CNRS/Inserm/Université Grenoble Alpes) also contributed to this research.
This spiny dinosaur was herbivorous and lived under the predation pressure of small carnivorous dinosaurs. Comparable in their deterrent function to those of porcupines, its appendages represent a unique evolutionary innovation. They may also have played a role in thermoregulation or sensory perception.
Until now, no evidence had testified to the existence of such spines in dinosaurs. As the Haolong dongi specimen is juvenile, it remains to be determined whether these spines were also present in adults. This unprecedented discovery will be published in Nature Ecology & Evolution on February 6, 2026.
© Thierry Hubin
Ressources:
Watch the interview (in French with English subtitles) with Ninon Robin, CNRS researcher and Paleontologist at the laboratoire Géosciences Rennes (CNRS/Université de Rennes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSPknWAwF6g
Bibliography
Cellular-level preservation of cutaneous spikes in an Early Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaur. Huang Jiandong, Wu Wenhao, Mao Lei, Filippo Bertozzo, Danielle Dhouailly, Ninon Robin, Michael Pittman, Thomas G. Kaye, Fabio Manucci, He Xuezhi, Wang Xuri & Pascal Godefroit, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 06 February 2026
DOI : 10.1038/s41559-025-02960-9
