Dino card No. 1937 of 2,027

Xianshanosaurus

Say it: shee-ahn-SHAHN-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Xian Mountain lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Cretaceous

Xianshanosaurus was a huge, long-necked plant-eater that stomped through ancient China. It had spoon-shaped teeth and a tail that moved like a whip. This gentle giant lived alongside other big dinosaurs in a warm, wet habitat.1

Lived

121 to 100 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Henan Province, China, in the Haoling Formation1 2

Food

Plants2 1

Length

10 to 100 m2

Estimated from adult length range in PBDB; exact size unknown

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 22 cars parked in a rowas long as 560 bananas end to end

How big was Xianshanosaurus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Xianshanosaurus had spoon-shaped teeth with a ridge on the tongue side, similar to another sauropod called Euhelopus.1

Its tail vertebrae were procoelous, meaning they had ball-and-socket joints, which made its tail extra flexible.1

Unlike many titanosaurs, its dorsal ribs did not have air holes, and its haemal arches had a closed canal.1

It was large, but smaller than its neighbors Ruyangosaurus and Huanghetitan.1

Scientists think it lived in a group, because the PBDB lists it as gregarious.2

It lived about 121 to 100 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous.2

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

?How big was Xianshanosaurus?

Nobody knows its exact size because only a partial skeleton has been found, but it was a large sauropod, though smaller than its neighbors Ruyangosaurus and Huanghetitan.1

?What did Xianshanosaurus eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. Its spoon-shaped teeth were good for stripping leaves off branches.3

?When did Xianshanosaurus live?

It lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 121 to 100 million years ago.3

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Xianshanosaurus was a titanosaur, a type of sauropod with a very flexible tail.

Truth: Scientists aren't sure. It might be a titanosaur, but some studies say it could be a different kind of sauropod, like a turiasaur or euhelopodid.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Xianshanosaurus
Named by: Lü et al. 20093
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Euhelopodidae3
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Macronaria3
Age of the rocks: 121 to 100 million years (Aptian / Albian)3
Rock formations: Haoling3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: It was named in 2009 by Lü Junchang and colleagues, based on a partial skeleton of a young animal found near Xian Mountain in China.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate where exactly Xianshanosaurus belongs in the sauropod family tree, with some thinking it's close to Daxiatitan and others not.1

Where the facts come from

Xianshanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Xianshanosaurus 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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