Dino card No. 1628 of 2,027

Shamosaurus

Say it: shah-MAW-sore-us

Name means: “desert lizard”1

Ate: PlantsArmoured dinosEarly Cretaceous

Shamosaurus was an armoured dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia during the Early Cretaceous. It had a flat skull, a beak without teeth, and its body was covered in bony plates and spikes for protection.2 1

Lived

121 to 100 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Mongolia (Dornogovi and Övörkhangai provinces)2 3

Food

Plants2 1

Length

5 to 7 m2

estimates vary; scientists are not sure of the exact length

Weight

2 tonnes2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 4 bicycles in a rowas long as 39 bananas end to endas heavy as 1.5 carsas heavy as 67 big dogsas heavy as 400 watermelons

How big was Shamosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Shamosaurus was one of the first ankylosaurs found in the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia. Its skeleton was discovered in 1977 by a Soviet-Mongolian expedition.2

Its name comes from the Mandarin Chinese words 'sha mo', meaning 'sand desert', because it was found in the Gobi Desert.2

Shamosaurus had two half-rings of armour around its neck, each made of six bony segments. These helped protect it from predators.2

The skull of Shamosaurus was flat and wide, with small, rounded horns at the back corners. Its eye sockets were large and oval-shaped.2

Shamosaurus is very similar to another ankylosaur called Gobisaurus, but Shamosaurus had a longer row of teeth in its upper jaw and a more sculptured skull roof.2

The only known skull of Shamosaurus is kept at the Palaeontological Institute in Moscow, Russia, where it is on display.2

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

?How big was Shamosaurus?

Shamosaurus was a medium sized ankylosaur. Scientists estimate it was about 5 metres (16 feet) long and weighed around 2 tonnes (2.2 short tons), though one estimate gives a length of 7 metres (23 feet).2

?What did Shamosaurus eat?

Shamosaurus was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It had a beak without teeth at the front of its mouth and a longer row of teeth in its upper jaw to chew tough vegetation.1 2

?When did Shamosaurus live?

Shamosaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 121 to 99 million years ago. Its fossils were found in Mongolia.1 2

?Did Shamosaurus have armour?

Yes, Shamosaurus had bony plates and spikes covering its body for protection. It also had two half-rings of armour around its neck, each made of six bony segments.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Shamosaurus
Named by: Tumanova 19834
Group: Armoured dinos
Family / clade: Ankylosauridae4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ankylosauria > Ankylosauridae > Thyreophora4
Age of the rocks: 121 to 100 million years (Aptian / Albian)4
Rock formations: Dzunbain4
Countries: Mongolia4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Shamosaurus was named and described in 1983 by Russian paleontologist Tatyana Tumanova. The first skeleton was found in 1977 at the Hamrin-Us site in Mongolia.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure about the exact size of Shamosaurus because only a skull and partial skeleton have been found. Different estimates give a length of 5 to 7 metres.2 1

Where the facts come from

Shamosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Shamosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Shamosaurus 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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