Tsintaosaurus
Tsintaosaurus was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in China during the Late Cretaceous. It had a strange, hollow crest on its head that looked a bit like a unicorn horn. This plant-eater could walk on four legs or run on two to escape predators.21
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Fun facts
Tsintaosaurus was first thought to have a unicorn-like horn, but scientists now think the crest was actually part of a larger, hollow structure on its snout.2
The crest was hollow and may have been used to make loud honking sounds to communicate with other Tsintaosaurus.2
It lived about 84 to 71 million years ago, during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.1
Tsintaosaurus is known from skulls and a partial skeleton, so scientists are still learning about its body.1
Like other hadrosaurs, Tsintaosaurus probably traveled in herds for protection.2
The name Tsintaosaurus comes from the old spelling of Qingdao, the city near where it was found.2
Most asked questions about Tsintaosaurus
?How big was Tsintaosaurus?
About 8.3 metres (27 feet) long and weighed 2.5 tonnes (2.8 short tons), according to Wikipedia. The Natural History Museum gives a length of 12.0 metres, so estimates vary.21
?What did Tsintaosaurus eat?
It was a plant-eater. It had a duck-like beak and strong teeth for chewing vegetation.21
?Why did Tsintaosaurus have a crest?
The crest was hollow and may have been used to make loud honking sounds to communicate. It might also have helped attract mates, and the hollow tube made the crest lighter.23
?Could Tsintaosaurus swim?
It had a large tail that may have helped it swim, according to the Australian Museum. It probably lived near lakes and rivers.3
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Myth buster
Myth: Tsintaosaurus had a single, solid horn like a unicorn.
Truth: The crest was actually hollow and was the back part of a larger, flat crest that ran from the tip of the snout.2
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Tsintaosaurus
- Named by
- Young 19584
- Group
- Duck-bills
- Family / clade
- Hadrosauridae4
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae4
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
- Rock formations
- Jingangkou4
- Countries
- China4
- Fossil records
- 4 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young named Tsintaosaurus in 1958 after fossils were found near Laiyang, Shandong, China.21
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate the exact shape and function of Tsintaosaurus's head crest, because only a few fossils have been found.2
Where the facts come from
- Tsintaosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Tsintaosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Dinosaurs - Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus - The Australian Museum (australian.museum)
- Tsintaosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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