[1] In 2004, sheep herder Ma Yun found dinosaur bones, notifying local administrators Yang Huozhu and Liu Hongan.

The excavations and the subsequent preparation were carried out by Wang Haijun, Xiang Lishi, He Sicai, Cao Renfang, Tang Zhilu and Tao Yu.

The specific name shenqi (神奇) means "amazing" or "magical" in Mandarin, reflecting the unexpected appearance of a member of the Dicraeosauridae in East Asia, a group never before identified in the region.

LGP V002 is a partial skeleton including vertebrae of the back and tail, the shoulder girdle, and elements of the forelimbs and pelvis.

[1] Autapomorphies (unique traits) that distinguish Lingwulong from other diplodocoids include highly elaborated ornamentation along the upper margin of the orbital area, occipital condyle with transversely wide articular surface and anterior dorsal vertebrae with slightly twisted metapophyses presenting a sub-circular pseudofacet on their tip.

[1] Prior to its discovery, the oldest known possible diplodocoids included "Cetiosaurus" glymptonensis from the late Bathonian and Cetiosauriscus stewarti from the Callovian, both from the United Kingdom.

[3] However, the Lingwu dinosaur fauna has been argued to have actually come from the Zhiluo Formation,[4] which would make Lingwulong substantially younger, Bathonian to early Oxfordian in age.