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Bashanosaurus

Say it: BAH-shah-noh-SORE-us

Name means: “Bashan lizard, after the ancient name of Chongqing in China”1

Ate: PlantsPlated dinosMiddle Jurassic

Bashanosaurus was an early plated dinosaur that walked on four legs and ate plants. It had rows of bony plates and spikes on its back and tail, which it may have used to scare away hungry meat-eaters.1

Lived

168 to 162 million years ago4

Middle Jurassic

Fossils found in

Laojun Village, Pu'an Township, Yunyang County, Chongqing, China4 2

Food

Plants4 1

Length

2.8 to 3 m2 1

estimate; holotype may be subadult

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 3 dogs nose to tailas long as 17 bananas end to end

How big was Bashanosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Bashanosaurus is one of the oldest known stegosaurs and the earliest stegosaur found in Asia.2 1

Its fossils were discovered in 2016 in a dinosaur quarry in Chongqing, China, and scientists named it in 2022.2 1

Bashanosaurus had a mix of features from early armored dinosaurs and more advanced stegosaurs, like a flared shoulder blade and tall stalks on its back vertebrae.2

The name 'primitivus' means 'primitive' because this dinosaur is one of the earliest branching stegosaurs.2 1

Bashanosaurus lived during the Middle Jurassic, about 167 to 164 million years ago, in a semi-arid environment with red mud and siltstone.2 1

Only a partial skeleton of Bashanosaurus has been found, including a back vertebra, tail bones, shoulder bones, leg bones, and armor plates.2

AI-made picture of Bashanosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Bashanosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Bashanosaurus

?How big was Bashanosaurus?

Scientists are not sure yet because only a partial skeleton has been found, but it was a medium-sized stegosaur, smaller than later stegosaurs like Stegosaurus.1 2

?When did Bashanosaurus live?

Bashanosaurus lived during the Middle Jurassic, about 168 to 164 million years ago.1 3

?What did Bashanosaurus eat?

Bashanosaurus was a plant-eater (herbivore). It ate plants like ferns and cycads.1

?Did Bashanosaurus have plates?

Yes, Bashanosaurus had a row of bony plates and spines along its back and tail, but its plates were smaller and simpler than those of later stegosaurs.1 3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Bashanosaurus
Named by: Hui et al. 20224
Group: Plated dinos
Family / clade: Huayangosauridae4
Classification: Ornithischia > Stegosauria > Thyreophora4
Age of the rocks: 168 to 162 million years (Bathonian / Callovian)4
Rock formations: Shaximiao4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Bashanosaurus was discovered in 2016 in a dinosaur quarry in Laojun Village, China, and named in 2022 by Hui Dai and colleagues. The fossils belong to three individuals, with one partial skeleton chosen as the holotype.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether stegosaurs first evolved in Asia, because Bashanosaurus and other early stegosaurs are all from China, but the fossil record from other places is very sparse.2

Where the facts come from

Bashanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Full article: New stegosaurs from the Middle Jurassic Lower Member of the Shaximiao Formation of Chongqing, China (tandfonline.com)
Early stegosaur fossils may shed light on stegosaurus evolution (theguardian.com)
Bashanosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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