Dino card No. 0486 of 2,027

Dashanpusaurus

Say it: dash-an-POO-sore-us

Name means: “Dashanpu lizard, after the township where it was found”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksMiddle Jurassic to Late Jurassic

Dashanpusaurus was a huge, long-necked plant-eater that stomped around China during the Middle Jurassic. It walked on all four legs and was one of the earliest members of the group that includes giants like Brachiosaurus.1 2

Lived

171 to 155 million years ago4

Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Dashanpu Township, Zigong City, Sichuan Province, China1 2

Food

Plants4

Length

up to 13.8 m3

largest known specimen

Weight

up to 5.2 tonnes3

largest known specimen

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 3 cars

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 77 bananas end to endabout as heavy as an elephantas heavy as 1000 watermelons

How big was Dashanpusaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Dashanpusaurus lived about 165 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic period.1

It was one of the earliest known neosauropods, the group that includes many of the largest dinosaurs.2

The first fossils of Dashanpusaurus were found in the Dashanpu quarry, which is only 7 kilometres from Zigong city.1

Its species name, dongi, honors the famous Chinese paleontologist Dong Zhiming.1

Scientists used to think Dashanpusaurus was a camarasaurid, but new studies show it is a macronarian, a more advanced group.1 2

The Dashanpusaurus fossils include many bones like vertebrae, a pelvis, and leg bones, but no skull has been found.1

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

?How big was Dashanpusaurus?

Scientists do not know its exact size because no complete skeleton has been found. It was a large sauropod, but no specific length or weight is given in the sources.1 4

?What did Dashanpusaurus eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. Like other sauropods, it probably fed on leaves and ferns.1 4

?When did Dashanpusaurus live?

It lived about 165 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic period.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Dashanpusaurus
Named by: Peng et al. 20054
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Macronaria4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Macronaria4
Age of the rocks: 171 to 155 million years (Bajocian / Oxfordian)4
Rock formations: Shaximiao4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Dashanpusaurus was named in 2005 by Peng Guangzhao, Ye Yong, Gao Yuhui, Shu Chunkang, and Jiang Shan. The fossils came from the Dashanpu quarry in Sichuan, China.1 4
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Dashanpusaurus is related to other sauropods, with some studies placing it as a very early macronarian.1 2

Where the facts come from

Dashanpusaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Re-examination of Dashanpusaurus dongi (Sauropoda: Macronaria) supports an early Middle Jurassic global distribution of neosauropod dinosaurs (sciencedirect.com)
Dashanpusaurus dongi | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Dashanpusaurus 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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