Shantungosaurus

It was about 15 to 17 metres long and weighed around 13 to 16 metric tons. Some scientists think it was a bit smaller, about 15 metres and 13 metric tons.21

It was a plant-eater, eating tough, low-growing plants like pine branches and flowering plants. It used its 1,500 tiny teeth to chew them up.32

It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 78 to 74 million years ago. Some sources say 77 to 71 million years ago.12

Its fossils were found in the Shandong Peninsula in China. It was first described by paleontologist Hu Chengzhi in 1973.32

Shantungosaurus was longer than T. rex, but T. rex was a meat eater and Shantungosaurus was a plant eater. Shantungosaurus could be up to 17 metres long, while T. rex was about 12 metres long.2

No, scientists have not found any evidence of feathers on Shantungosaurus. It was a duck-billed dinosaur with scaly skin, and its hands were webbed.3

It probably could swim, because it often browsed along the shores of lakes and other bodies of water. Its webbed hands might have helped it paddle.3

Its beak was toothless and shaped like a duck's bill, which helped it feed selectively on plants. It had a large hole near its nostrils that might have been covered by a loose flap of skin, possibly to make sounds.32