Saichania
Saichania was a tank-like dinosaur covered in bony armour and armed with a heavy tail club. It lived in the deserts of Mongolia and China during the Late Cretaceous period. Even big predators like Tarbosaurus probably thought twice before attacking this walking fortress!1
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How heavy was it?
as long as 7 dogs nose to tail🍌as long as 39 bananas end to endas heavy as 100 dogs🍉as heavy as 400 watermelons🎒as heavy as 2.5 whole school classes of kids🐻❄️as heavy as 4 polar bears🏃could run 100 metres in 22 seconds (the fastest human needs 9.6)How big was Saichania compared to YOU?
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Fun facts
Saichania means 'beautiful one' in Mongolian, because the first fossil found was so well preserved.1
Its neck bones, shoulder bones and ribs were fused together, making its body extra strong and sturdy.1
Saichania had a special cooling system in its nose: bony curls inside the nasal cavity helped moisten the dry desert air.2
It shared its desert home with other dinosaurs like Bagaceratops and Tylocephale, but large meat-eaters were rare in that area.1
Some scientists think that two Chinese dinosaurs, Tianzhenosaurus and Shanxia, are actually the same as Saichania.14
Saichania's tail club could deliver a powerful blow to defend itself against predators like Tarbosaurus.1
The first Saichania fossil was found by a Polish-Mongolian expedition in the Gobi Desert in 1970 and 1971.1
Most asked questions about Saichania
?What did Saichania eat?
Saichania was an herbivore (plant-eater). It used its horny beak to bite off plants in its desert habitat and then processed the food in its wide hindgut.1
?How big was Saichania?
Saichania was about 5 to 7 metres long and weighed around 1.4 to 2.0 metric tons.1
?Did Saichania have a tail club?
Yes, Saichania had a heavy tail club. It could use it to defend itself against predators like Tarbosaurus, and biomechanical analysis shows the club could generate a force of about 13631 Newtons.13
?When did Saichania live?
Saichania lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 73 million years ago, in what is now Mongolia and China.1
?Could Saichania run fast?
Saichania was a slow, heavy dinosaur that walked on four short legs. It wasn't built for speed, but its armour and tail club made it a tough target for predators.1
?Is Saichania a dinosaur?
Yes, Saichania is a dinosaur. More specifically, it is an ankylosaurid, a type of armoured herbivorous dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Saichania
- Named by
- Maryanska 19774
- Group
- Armoured dinos
- Family / clade
- Ankylosauridae4
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ankylosauria > Ankylosauridae > Thyreophora4
- Age of the rocks
- 100 to 72 million years (Cenomanian / Campanian)4
- Rock formations
- Baruungoyot, Huiquanpu4
- Countries
- Mongolia, China4
- Fossil records
- 5 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Also known as
- Shanxia, Tianzhenosaurus (older names now counted as the same animal)4
- Discovery
- Saichania was named by Polish palaeontologist Teresa Maryańska in 1977, based on a beautifully preserved skull and front part of the body found in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.1
- Still debated
- Scientists debate whether some fossils belong to Saichania or to its close relatives Tarchia and Zaraapelta, since they lived in the same area.1
Where the facts come from
- Saichania (en.wikipedia.org)
- ANKYLOSAURIDAE (DINOSAURIA) FROM MONGOLIA (palaeontologia.pan.pl)
- Saichania chulsanensis (Ornithischia, Ankylosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia - Palaeontographica Abteilung A Band 294 Lieferung 1-3 — Schweizerbart science publishers (schweizerbart.de)
- Saichania in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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