Fossils of Asia's heaviest dinosaur found

Scientists have located and identified the fossils of Asia's heaviest dinosaur on record in China's Henan Province, a report said.

China's Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday that the dinosaur's fossils indicated it was more than 59 feet long and its broad lower vertebrae indicated the animal was likely the continent's heaviest dinosaur on record.

The fossils, which have been dubbed "dragon's bones" by local residents, were identified as being between 85 million and 100 million years old.

An official from China's provincial land resources department said the remains were well-preserved and that they belonged to a vegetarian sauropoda.

The fossils were found by scientists from the Henan provincial geological museum and the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.

Before the scientists took control of the remains, local residents had been grinding up the "dragon's bones" and using the powdered fossils as a traditional medicine, Xinhua said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International