Chungkingosaurus

Holozoa

Chungkingosaurus Temporal range: 160 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Mounted skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	†Ornithischia
Suborder:	†Stegosauria
Family:	†Huayangosauridae
Genus:	†Chungkingosaurus Dong et al., 1983
Species:	†C. jiangbeiensis
Binomial name
Chungkingosaurus jiangbeiensis Dong et al., 1983

Chungkingosaurus, meaning "Chongqing Lizard", is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic-age Upper Shaximiao Formation in what is now China. It is classified as a stegosaurid.

Discovery and species

The type species, Chungkingosaurus jiangbeiensis, was found near Chongqing, China. in 1977 and described by Dong Zhiming, Zhou Shiwu, and Chang Yihong in 1983. There were many stegosaurs found in China in 1977 (the year Chungkingosaurus was found), but Chungkingosaurus was the smallest of these.

Paleobiology

One of the smallest of the family at 3–4 metres long (10–13 ft), Chungkingosaurus had at least five spikes on its thagomizer. It had a rather high and narrow skull and large, thick bony plates. Like all stegosaurs, it was a herbivore. Chungkingosaurus had spiny plates on its back, which were arranged in pairs, but the total number is unknown. A specimen in the Chongqing Municipal museum is represented as having 14 pairs of plates. This specimen also had two pairs of tail spikes.

Chungkingosaurus is thought to have coexisted with large plant-eaters and stegosaurids such as Chialingosaurus, Tuojiangosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, and Omeisaurus. It may have also faced being a meal of predators such as the theropods Yangchuanosaurus and Szechuanosaurus.

References

• Dong Zhiming (1992). Dinosaurian Faunas of China. China Ocean Press, Beijing. ISBN 3-540-52084-8. 

• Britt, Carpenter et al. (2002). Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs.. Publications international, Ltd., Lincolnwood Illinois.. ISBN 0-7853-5561-8. 

External links

• Chungkingosaurus in the Dinosaur Encyclopaedia
• Chungkingosaurus at Thescelosaurus.com

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