Shantungosaurus

Shantungosaurus giganteus · Shantungosaurus is an extinct, very large plant-eating hadrosaur dinosaur that lived in what is now the Shandong Peninsula of China during the Late Cretaceous.

It lived about 77.3 to 71 million years ago.

Shantungosaurus
Photo: Connor Ashbridge, CC BY-SA 4.0
Shantungosaurus
Photo: IJReid, CC BY 4.0
Shantungosaurus
Photo: BleachedRice, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderOrnithischia
FamilyHadrosauridae
GenusShantungosaurus
SpeciesShantungosaurus giganteus

Where its fossils were found

Shandong Peninsula, eastern China.

Fun facts

  • Shantungosaurus is the largest hadrosauroid known so far, with size estimates of around 15–17 metres in length.
  • The biggest individuals may have weighed as much as 16 tonnes.
  • Its beak had no teeth, but its jaws were packed with around 1,500 tiny chewing teeth.
  • A big hole near its nostrils may have been covered by a loose flap of skin that could be inflated to make sounds.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).