Yingshanosaurus
"Yingshan lizard"
- Lived
- 168 to 162 million years ago, Middle Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Stegosaurs, Stegosauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Zhou 1986
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
165 million years ago
Habitat
A plain crossed by rivers, with lakes that expanded in wet seasons and shrank in dry ones. Mamenchisaurus, Tuojiangosaurus and Yangchuanosaurus also lived in the Shaximiao landscape.
Field notes
About Yingshanosaurus
What it was like
Yingshanosaurus was a stegosaur, a plant eater with plates and spikes. It is known from part of one skeleton, which includes a large spine from the shoulder.
Its world
It lived in the Jurassic, in what is now China. It comes from the Shaximiao Formation, home to the stegosaurs Tuojiangosaurus and Chungkingosaurus, the long-necked Mamenchisaurus and the predator Yangchuanosaurus.
How it was found
Zhou named Yingshanosaurus in 1986.
Field gallery
More views of Yingshanosaurus
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 Yingshanosaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Yingshanosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- It is known from part of one skeleton.
- Its armor included a large shoulder spine.
Borrowed from relatives
- Missing parts of the body are restored by comparison with other stegosaurs, such as Tuojiangosaurus.
Still unknown
- The complete arrangement of its plates and spikes.
- Its precise place among the stegosaurs.
- Its color.
Discovery timeline
- 1986Named itZhou
- 2006Family treeMAIDMENT & WEI
- 2010Family treeMaidment
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Yingshanosaurus
Named it
Introduced the name Yingshanosaurus for a Chinese stegosaur.
De l'origine et de l'évolution systématique des Stegosauria à la lumière des fossiles connus [On the origin and systematic evolution of the Stegosauria in light of the known fossils]. Les Dinosaures de La Chine à La France, Colloque International de Paléontologie, Toulouse, France, 2-6 Septembre 1985; Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Toulouse, Toulouse.
No link available
Family tree
Reviewed Chinese stegosaurs and questioned Yingshanosaurus because its description and original specimen could not be located.
A review of the Late Jurassic stegosaurs (Dinosauria, Stegosauria) from the People's Republic of China. Geological Magazine 143: 621-634
Read the paper : A review of the Late Jurassic stegosaurs (Dinosauria, Stegosauria) from the People's Republic of China (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Reviewed stegosaur anatomy, discoveries and relationships, providing the wider framework for comparing fragmentary Chinese stegosaurs.
Stegosauria: a historical review of the body fossil record and phylogenetic relationships. Swiss Journal of Geosciences 103: 199-210
Read the paper : Stegosauria: a historical review of the body fossil record and phylogenetic relationships (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Stegosauridae
Sources: Wikidata