Chungkingosaurus
Name:
Chungkingosaurus
(Chungking lizard).
Phonetic: Chun-king-o-sore-us.
Named By: Z. Dong, S. Zhou, and H. Zhang
- 1983.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Thyreophora, Stegosauria, Huayangosauridae.
Species: C. jiangbeiensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Around 4 meters for the holotype, other
individuals incdicate an upper size approaching 5 meters long.
Known locations: China - Sichuan Province -
Dashanpu/Upper Shaximiao Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Fairly well preserved
specimens.
As
stegosaurs
go Chungkingosaurus was towards the
smaller end of the scale
at four meters long. The hips and humerus (upper arm bone) of
Chungkingosaurus seem to be quite primitive when
compared to other
stegosaurs. The skull is also deep which might be a relict primitive
trait, or an adaptation for supporting stronger muscles for eating
tougher vegetation. The plates of Chungkingosaurus
that run down the
back and tail are arranged in plates rather than in an alternating
pattern, as has been proposed for the more famous Stegosaurus.
Unfortunately however the total number of plates is still unknown.
Like with many other stegosaurs, the thagomizer on the end of the
tail was composed of two pairs of spikes that pointed out to the sides.
Hailing
from China there is sometimes confusion regarding which fossil bearing
Formation Chungkingosaurus comes from. Chungkingosaurus
is known from
the Dashanpu Formation, but this actually covers four other
formations. These are the Upper Shaximiao, Lower Shaximiao,
Zhenchuchong and Ziliujing Formations, and of these Chungkingosaurus
is currently only known from the Upper Shaximiao. Other stegosaurs
from the Upper Shaximiao Formation that Chungkingosaurus
may have come
shared its habitat with include Chialingosaurus,
Gigantspinosaurus
and Tuojiangosaurus.
As a huayangosaurid stegosaur, Chungkingosaurus
was closely related to the
Huayangosaurus
from the
Lower Shaximiao.
Chungkingosaurus
also shared its habitat with larger sauropod
dinosaurs such as
Mamenchisaurus,
and may have had to defend itself against predatory
dinosaurs such as Sinraptor,
Leshansaurus
and Yangchuanosaurus.
Further reading
- [Dinosaurs from the Jurassic of Sichuan]. - Palaeontologica Sinica,
New Series C, Whole Number 162(23):1-136. - Z. Dong, S. Zhou &
H. Zhang - 1983.
- A review of the Late Jurassic stegosaurs (Dinosauria, Stegosauria)
from the People's Republic of China. - Geological Magazine 143(5):
621-634. - S. C. R. Maidment & G. Wei - 2006.
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