Dino card No. 0420 of 2,027

Chungkingosaurus

Say it: chung-ching-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Chongqing lizard”1 2

Ate: PlantsPlated dinosMiddle Jurassic

Chungkingosaurus was a small, plant-eating dinosaur with plates and spikes on its back. It lived in what is now China during the Late Jurassic Period. Its tail had a special cluster of spikes called a thagomizer, which it used to defend itself.1 2

Lived

168 to 162 million years ago4

Middle Jurassic

Fossils found in

Chongqing, China1 2

Food

Plants1 2

Length

4 to 5 m1

estimates; one adult specimen was less than 4 metres long

Weight

up to 450 kg3

estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 15 big dogs

as long as 5 dogs nose to tailas long as 28 bananas end to endas heavy as 90 watermelons

How big was Chungkingosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Chungkingosaurus had a thagomizer with two pairs of stout spikes and an extra pair of long, thin spikes at the very tip of its tail.1

It was one of the smallest stegosaurs, with an adult skeleton less than 4 metres long.1

Its back plates looked like modified spikes, with a thickened middle section.1

Chungkingosaurus lived alongside other plant-eaters like Tuojiangosaurus and Mamenchisaurus, and might have been hunted by the meat-eater Yangchuanosaurus.1

Some scientists think Chungkingosaurus might be a juvenile of Tuojiangosaurus, but others disagree.1

The first fossils were found near Chongqing, China, starting in 1977.1

AI-made picture of Chungkingosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Chungkingosaurus 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 Chungkingosaurus

?How big was Chungkingosaurus?

About 4 metres (13 feet) long for the smallest adult, but some specimens may have been 5 metres or longer.1 2

?What did Chungkingosaurus eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants.1 2

?When did Chungkingosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Jurassic Period, about 163.5 to 157.3 million years ago.1 2

?Where was Chungkingosaurus found?

Fossils were found near Chongqing, China, starting in 1977.1

?Did Chungkingosaurus have feathers?

No, it was an armoured dinosaur with plates and spikes, not feathers.2

?Is Chungkingosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur.1 2

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Myth buster

Myth: Chungkingosaurus is just a young Tuojiangosaurus.

Truth: Some scientists think so, but others say it is a separate genus because of differences in its skull and teeth.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Chungkingosaurus
Named by: Dong et al. 19834
Group: Plated dinos
Family / clade: Stegosauridae4
Classification: Ornithischia > Stegosauria > Thyreophora4
Age of the rocks: 168 to 162 million years (Bathonian / Callovian)4
Rock formations: Shaximiao4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Chungkingosaurus was named and described by Dong Zhiming, Zhou Shiwu, and Zhang Yihong in 1983. The name comes from Chongqing (formerly spelled Chungking) in China.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Chungkingosaurus is a separate species or just a young Tuojiangosaurus.1

Where the facts come from

Chungkingosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Chungkingosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
CHUNGKINGOSAURUS - DinoChecker dinosaur archive (dinochecker.com)
Chungkingosaurus 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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