Gobisaurus
"Gobi lizard"
Type species Gobisaurus domoculus
- Lived
- 121 to 101 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 5 m (16 ft)
- Group
- Ankylosaurs, Ankylosauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Vickaryous et al. 2001
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical ankylosaur shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
110 million years ago
Habitat
It lived on land in northern China alongside Shaochilong and Probactrosaurus in the Miaogou landscape.
Field notes
About Gobisaurus
What it was like
Gobisaurus was an early ankylosaur about 5 meters (16 feet) long, an armored plant eater. It is known from a large skull and some other bones.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now northern China. Its bones come from the Miaogou Formation, where it shared the land with the hunter Shaochilong and the plant eater Probactrosaurus.
How it was found
Vickaryous and colleagues named Gobisaurus in 2001, from bones found decades earlier.
Field gallery
More views of Gobisaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Gobisaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Gobisaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A nearly complete skull has a broad, triangular outline and a narrow snout.
- The skull roof is rough, with low, rounded bosses above the eyes and broad cheek projections.
Borrowed from relatives
- The low, broad body and short neck are restored by comparison with armored relatives such as Pinacosaurus and Saichania.
- Pinacosaurus provides a model for the compact hands and feet with short, broad claws.
Still unknown
- The exact pattern of armor across its body.
- Whether the referred skeleton belongs to Gobisaurus, and whether its tail ended in a large club.
- Its color.
Discovery timeline
- 2001Named itVickaryous et al.
- 2015Family treeArbour & Currie
- 2015Family treeArbour & Currie
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Gobisaurus
Named it
Described the skull of Gobisaurus and distinguished it from the similar armored dinosaur Shamosaurus.
A new ankylosaurid (Dinosauria: Ankylosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous of China, with comments on ankylosaurian relationships. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 38: 1767-1780
Read the paper : A new ankylosaurid (Dinosauria: Ankylosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous of China, with comments on ankylosaurian relationships (opens in a new tab)Family tree
A skeleton referred to Gobisaurus has a stiff tail tip without a preserved club knob, supporting the idea that stiffening evolved first.
Ankylosaurid dinosaur tail clubs evolved through stepwise acquisition of key features. Journal of Anatomy 227: 514-523
Read the paper : Ankylosaurid dinosaur tail clubs evolved through stepwise acquisition of key features (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Placed Gobisaurus among early branches of the ankylosaurid family, outside the group containing the familiar large-clubbed forms.
Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 14: 385-444
Read the paper : Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Ankylosauridae
Sources: Wikidata