Shantungosaurus
shan-TUNG-oh-SORE-us
"Shandong lizard"
- Lived
- 84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 15 m (49 ft)
- Group
- Ornithopods, Hadrosauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Hu 1973
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in meters
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
It probably browsed well-vegetated hills and valleys in a warm, rainy part of China. Regional dinosaurs included Sinoceratops, Zhuchengtyrannus and Zhuchengtitan.
Field notes
About Shantungosaurus
What it was like
Shantungosaurus was an enormous duck-billed dinosaur, among the largest ornithopods known. It grew to roughly 15 meters (49 feet) long, walking on four legs while browsing but able to rear up on two. Like other hadrosaurs, it had a wide, flattened beak backed by rows of grinding teeth for processing tough plants.
Unlike crested relatives such as Corythosaurus and Lambeosaurus, Shantungosaurus had a flat, unadorned head. Its rows of cheek teeth formed a dense battery that kept replacing itself as older teeth wore down from grinding tough plant material.
Its world
Shantungosaurus lived in what is now China during the Late Cretaceous, between about 84 and 72 million years ago. Its bones come from the Hongtuya Formation, with three finds known so far.
It shared its habitat with the tyrannosaur Zhuchengtyrannus, the horned Sinoceratops, and other dinosaurs including Zhuchengtitan, Zhuchengceratops, and the armored Sinankylosaurus.
How it was found
Hu named Shantungosaurus in 1973. It belongs to Hadrosauridae, the family of duck-billed dinosaurs that also includes Edmontosaurus, Saurolophus, and the crested Corythosaurus and Lambeosaurus. Its huge size, among the largest of any hadrosaur, invites comparison with relatives from North America and Asia, such as Parasaurolophus and Maiasaura.
Field gallery
More views of Shantungosaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 7
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 Shantungosaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Shantungosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Large skulls show a long, broad beak and a head without a hollow crest.
- Dense rows of cheek teeth formed grinding surfaces for processing plants.
- Body bones show a massive torso, strong hindlimbs and a heavy balancing tail.
Borrowed from relatives
- Much of the skeleton is known from its own bones.
- Scaly skin and the fleshy outline around the beak follow better-preserved relatives such as Edmontosaurus.
Still unknown
- Its skin color and any soft display structures on its head.
- The full body proportions of its youngest animals.
- Whether adults cared for their young.
Often drawn wrong
- A hollow crest like that of Parasaurolophus gives it head bones it did not have.
- A tail dragging along the ground misses its role as a raised counterbalance.
Discovery timeline
- 1973Named itHu
- 2010Family treePRIETO-MÁRQUEZ
- 2010Same rocksXu et al.
- 2011Growing upYannan et al.
- 2011Same rocksHone et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Shantungosaurus
Named it
Named an enormous, crestless duck-billed dinosaur from skull and body bones found in China.
[A new hadrosaur from the Cretaceous of Chucheng, Shantung]. Acta Geologica Sinica 1973: 179-206
No link available
Family tree
Compared duck-billed dinosaurs across the family, including Shantungosaurus, to test their evolutionary relationships.
Global phylogeny of Hadrosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) using parsimony and Bayesian methods. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 159: 435-502
Read the paper : Global phylogeny of Hadrosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) using parsimony and Bayesian methods (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Described Sinoceratops, a large horned dinosaur from the same regional rock sequence as Shantungosaurus.
First ceratopsid dinosaur from China and its biogeographical implications. Chinese Science Bulletin 55: 1631-1635
Read the paper : First ceratopsid dinosaur from China and its biogeographical implications (opens in a new tab)Growing up
Interpreted differences between smaller and larger bones as growth variation within Shantungosaurus and proposed a warm, rainy habitat.
Systematics, Behavior and Living Environment of Shantungosaurus Giganteus (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae). Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition 85: 58-65
Read the paper : Systematics, Behavior and Living Environment of Shantungosaurus Giganteus (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Described Zhuchengtyrannus from large jaw bones, adding a major predator to the regional dinosaur fauna.
A new, large tyrannosaurine theropod from the Upper Cretaceous of China. Cretaceous Research 32: 495-503
Read the paper : A new, large tyrannosaurine theropod from the Upper Cretaceous of China (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Hadrosauridae
Sources: Wikidata