Dino card No. 0603 of 2,027

Eopinacosaurus

Say it: EE-oh-pin-ak-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “dawn Pinacosaurus”1 2

Ate: PlantsArmoured dinosLate Cretaceous

Eopinacosaurus was an armored dinosaur that lived about 75 million years ago. It had a bony club on its tail and a head that looked a bit like a devil's, with two big horns on the sides. This plant-eater walked on four legs and was covered in tough plates.1 2

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Bayan Mandahu Formation, Inner Mongolia, China and Djadokhta Formation, Mongolia1 2

Food

Plants5

Length

5 to 6 m1

estimated based on related ankylosaurs

Weight

1 tonnes to 2 tonnes1

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 1.5 cars

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 33 bananas end to endas heavy as 67 big dogsas heavy as 400 watermelons

How big was Eopinacosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Eopinacosaurus was first thought to be a species of Pinacosaurus, but in 2026 scientists gave it its own genus name.1

Its species name 'mephistocephalus' means 'devil's head' because of its horn-like bumps on the skull.1 2

A nearly complete skeleton was found in China in 1996, with the tail club still in place.1 2

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 75 to 71 million years ago.1

Eopinacosaurus belonged to the ankylosaurid family, a group of heavily armored dinosaurs with tail clubs.1

Some scientists think Eopinacosaurus might be closely related to Pinacosaurus, but others are not sure.1

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

?How big was Eopinacosaurus?

The exact size is not known from the sources, but it was a medium-sized ankylosaurid dinosaur. Its nearly complete skeleton was found in China.1 4

?Did Eopinacosaurus have a tail club?

Yes, it had a bony club on its tail. The nearly complete skeleton found in 1996 had the tail club still in place.1 4

?What did Eopinacosaurus eat?

It was a plant-eater. It walked on four legs and was covered in tough plates.1

?When did Eopinacosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 75 to 71 million years ago.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Eopinacosaurus is the same as Pinacosaurus.

Truth: In 2026, scientists moved it to its own genus, Eopinacosaurus, because of differences in its skull and armor.1 3

For dino experts

Scientific name: Eopinacosaurus
Named by: Penkalski 20265
Group: Armoured dinos
Family / clade: Ankylosauridae5
Classification: Ornithischia > Ankylosauria > Ankylosauridae > Thyreophora5
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)5
Rock formations: Bayan Mandahu, Djadokhta5
Countries: China, Mongolia5
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: A Belgian-Chinese expedition found a large, articulated skeleton in the Bayan Mandahu Formation of China in 1996. In 1999, Pascal Godefroit and colleagues named it Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus. In 2026, Paul Penkalski gave it the new genus name Eopinacosaurus.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Eopinacosaurus is more closely related to Pinacosaurus or to other ankylosaurids.1

Where the facts come from

Eopinacosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Untitled Document (paleofile.com)
The morphology and systematics of Pinacosaurus (exa.ai)
species ankylosaurid China) (biblio.naturalsciences.be)
Eopinacosaurus 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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