Shantungosaurus
| Shantungosaurus Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous, 70 mya |
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| Mounted skeleton, Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | Ornithopoda |
| Family: | Hadrosauridae |
| Genus: | Shantungosaurus |
Shantungosaurus, meaning "Shandong Lizard", is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaurs found in the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Formation of the Shandong Peninsula in China.
Description [change]
It is one of the longest and largest known hadrosaurids. The composite skeleton of a medium-sized individual mounted at the Geological Institute of China in Beijing measures 14.72 metres (48.3 ft) in length,[1] and the type skull is 1.63 metres (5.3 ft) long.[2] The weight of this genus is estimated at up to 16 tonnes (18 short tons).[3] With a composite mounted skeleton 16.6 meters long (54.5 ft) it is the largest known ornithischian and the largest non-sauropod dinosaur.[4]
It had an unusually long tail, presumably to counterbalance the great weight of the body at the animal's hips.[5]
Like all hadrosaurs its beak was toothless, but its jaws were packed with around 1,500 tiny chewing teeth. A large hole near its nostrils may have been covered by a loose flap, which could be inflated to make sounds.
First described in 1973, Shantungosaurus is known from over five incomplete skeletons.
References [change]
- ↑ Glut, Donald F. (1997). "Shantungosaurus". Dinosaurs: the encyclopedia. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. pp. 816–817. ISBN 0-89950-917-7.
- ↑ Hu Chengzhi et al. (2001) (in Chinese). Shantungosaurus giganteus. Beijing: Geological Publishing House. pp. 123–135 [English abstract]. ISBN 7-116-03472-2.
- ↑ Horner, John R. et al. (2004). "Hadrosauridae". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 438–463. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
- ↑ Zhao, X. et al. (2007). "Zhuchengosaurus maximus from Shandong Province". Acta Geoscientia Sinica 28 (2): 111–122. doi:10.1007/s10114-005-0808-x.
- ↑ Palmer D., ed. (1999). The Marshall illustrated encyclopedia of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 148. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
