Mandschurosaurus
"Manchuria lizard"
Type species Mandschurosaurus amurensis
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Ornithopods, Hadrosauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Riabinin 1930
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers carried and buried dinosaur bones on the plains of northeastern China. Charonosaurus and Wulagasaurus are among the duckbills known from the Yuliangzi Formation.
Field notes
About Mandschurosaurus
What it was like
Mandschurosaurus was a large duckbill, a plant eater with a broad beak and rows of grinding teeth. It is known from scattered bones, and many scientists think the fossils are not enough to define a genus.
Its world
The original material comes from the Late Cretaceous Yuliangzi Formation of northeastern China, near the border with Russia. Bones from much older rocks in Laos were once assigned to the genus, but that referral is doubtful.
How it was found
Riabinin named Mandschurosaurus in 1930. It was one of the first dinosaurs named from China.
Field gallery
More views of Mandschurosaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
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 Mandschurosaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Mandschurosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The original duckbill bones were assembled into a mounted skeleton using remains from several animals.
- Large parts of that mount were filled in with plaster.
Borrowed from relatives
- A broad beak and rows of grinding teeth follow better-known duckbills such as Edmontosaurus.
- The body outline is restored by comparison with other duckbills rather than a complete Mandschurosaurus skeleton.
Still unknown
- Whether the original bones belong to a distinct genus.
- The shape of its head, including whether it had a crest.
- Its skin color.
Discovery timeline
- 1930Named itRiabinin
- 2000Same rocksGodefroit, Zan & Jin
- 2008Same rocksGodefroit et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Mandschurosaurus
Named it
Named Mandschurosaurus for duckbill remains from northeastern China.
Mandschurosaurus amurensis nov. gen. nov. sp., verkhnemelovoy dinozavr s. r. Amura [Mandschurosaurus amurensis nov. gen, nov. sp., a hadrosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of the Amur River]. Monografii Russkogo Paleontologicheskogo Obshchestva 2: 1-36
No link available
Same rocks
Described Charonosaurus and explained why the heavily restored, mixed Mandschurosaurus skeleton fails to define a distinct genus.
Charonosaurus jiayinensis n.g., n.sp.,a lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Late Maastrichtian of northeastern China. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences - Series IIA - Earth and Planetary Science 330: 875-882
Read the paper : Charonosaurus jiayinensis n.g., n.sp.,a lambeosaurine dinosaur from the Late Maastrichtian of northeastern China (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Named Wulagasaurus and another duckbill from a bonebed in the same formation, revealing more of the region's duckbill diversity.
New Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs from the Uppermost Cretaceous of Northeastern China. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53: 47-74
Read the paper : New Hadrosaurid Dinosaurs from the Uppermost Cretaceous of Northeastern China (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Hadrosauridae
Sources: Wikidata