Fabio Manucci
By Ian Randall
Deputy Science Editor
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A dinosaur covered in hollow spikes like a porcupine’s spines—a feature never seen before in the iconic ancient reptiles—has been found near the village of Xiawujiazi in China’s Liaoning Province.
Hailing from 125 million years ago, the juvenile Haolong dongi specimen is so exceptionally well-preserved that individual cells are still discernable.
Analysis of the spikes using both X-ray scanning and analysis of ultrathin slices under a high-resolution microscope revealed that, rather than originating from the creature’s skeleton, the spikes were a feature of *H. dongi’*s skin.
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The name given to the new species honors the late Dong Zhiming, a pioneering vertebrate paleontologist who made major contributions to the study of dinosaurs in China.
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H. dongi belongs to a group of plant-eating dinosaurs known as the Iguanodontia, which are known for sporting beaked mouths and strong hind legs.
Iguanodontia—literally, “iguana tooth," for the similarity of their teeth to those of modern iguanas—were first identified in 1822.
“Iguanodontia were the dominant herbivorous dinosaurs in most terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Cretaceous,” the team explained in their paper.
“The clade reached its zenith during the closing stage of this period, as hadrosaurids—or duck-billed dinosaurs—spread over most continents.”
During the Early Cretaceous—the time when H. dongi lived—ancient China was also occupied by small carnivorous dinosaurs.
The researchers believe that H. dongi’s spikes may have served as a defensive adaptation, much like the spines on modern porcupines, to put predators off of attacking.
Alternatively, the spikes may also have helped the dinosaurs regulate their body temperature by increasing the surface area of their skin—or even had some kind of sensory role, helping to pick up on nearby movement or other environmental changes.
Because the recently-discovered specimen of H. dongi is only a juvenile, the researchers cannot presently say if the spines would have been preserved into adulthood.
The discovery of further individuals of the species, however, may be able to provide an answer to this question.
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Reference
Huang, J., Wu, W., Mao, L., Bertozzo, F., Dhouailly, D., Robin, N., Pittman, M., Kaye, T. G., Manucci, F., He, X., Wang, X., & Godefroit, P. (2026). Cellular-level preservation of cutaneous spikes in an Early Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaur. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 10(2), 203–210. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-025-02960-9
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