Huayangosaurus was a mid-sized stegosaurid dinosaur from the Center Jurassic interval. Found within the fossil beds of Sichuan Province, China, this herbivorous dinosaur roamed the Earth roughly 165 million years in the past. With its distinctive bony plates and defensive tail and shoulder spikes, Huayangosaurus is without doubt one of the earliest recognized stegosaurids.
Huayangosaurus Information
- Sort of Dinosaur: Stegosaurid
- Weight loss program: Herbivore
- Continent(s) Discovered: Asia (particularly China)
- Size: Roughly 4 meters (13 toes)
- Weight: Estimated round 500 kilograms (1100 kilos)
- Interval: Center Jurassic (about 165 million years in the past)
What Did Huayangosaurus Look Like?
Huayangosaurus was a comparatively small however closely constructed stegosaurid dinosaur, notable for its distinctive and considerably primitive options in comparison with later members of its household. It measured roughly 4 meters (13 toes) in size and weighed round 500 kilograms (1100 kilos).
This mid-Jurassic dinosaur had a strong physique with a sequence of bony plates alongside its again and two pairs of spikes on its tail, which doubtless served as defensive mechanisms in opposition to predators. Positioned on every shoulder was a protracted spike.
The plates of Huayangosaurus have been smaller and fewer elaborate than these of its extra well-known relative, Stegosaurus.
Huayangosaurus additionally had a broad, low-slung physique supported by sturdy legs, with its hind legs being longer and extra highly effective than its entrance legs. Its head was small relative to its physique, outfitted with leaf-shaped tooth appropriate for its herbivorous weight loss plan, consisting primarily of low-lying vegetation.
What Does The Identify Huayangosaurus Imply?
The title Huayangosaurus means “Huayang lizard.” The title is derived from “Huayang,” which is an historical title for a area in Sichuan Province, China, the place the dinosaur’s fossils have been found, and the Greek phrase “saurus,” which suggests lizard.
What Sort Of Dinosaur Was Huayangosaurus?
Huayangosaurus was a kind of stegosaurid dinosaur. Stegosaurids are characterised by the double row of bony plates working alongside their backs and spikes on their tails.
These herbivorous dinosaurs are a part of the bigger group often known as thyreophorans, or armored dinosaurs, which is split into two major branches: Stegosauria (dwelling of Huayangosaurus, Stegosaurus, and associated dinosaurs) and Ankylosauria, dwelling of dinosaurs corresponding to Ankylosaurus.
The place Did Huayangosaurus Dwell?
Huayangosaurus lived in what’s now the Sichuan Province of China.
The primary fossils have been unearthed within the early Eighties within the Dashanpu Quarry close to town of Zigong, which is famend for its wealthy deposits of Center Jurassic dinosaur fossils.
A crew of paleontologists, together with Dong Zhiming, a distinguished Chinese language paleontologist, described and named the species in 1982.
When Did Huayangosaurus Dwell?
Huayangosaurus lived throughout the Center Jurassic interval, roughly 165 million years in the past, throughout the Bajocian to Bathonian levels of the Jurassic Interval.
What Dinosaurs Did Huayangosaurus Dwell With?
Different dinosaurs present in China’s Shaximiao Formation embody the massive sauropod Shunosaurus, the predatory theropod Gasosaurus, which doubtless posed a menace to herbivores like Huayangosaurus; and the smaller, extra agile Ornithischian, Xiaosaurus.