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plated dinosaur
Gigantspinosaurus
Say it like this: “JIH-gant-SPY-no-SOR-us”
Gigantspinosaurus sichuanensis
Gigantspinosaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago
- Named in
- 1992 · Ouyang, H.
- Hip height
- 1.5 m · 5 ft
- Length
- 4.2 m · 14 ft
- Weight
- 700 kg · 1,543 lb
- Found in
- China · Shaximiao
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- plated dinosaur · Stegosaur
- Family branch
- Stegosauria
The story in short
The genus Gigantspinosaurus dates to 1992, the year H. Ouyang described it. The name means “giant-spined lizard.”
Fossils referred to Gigantspinosaurus date to the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian), roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Shaximiao Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Gigantspinosaurus at a length near 4.2 m, hips about 1.5 m high, and a body mass around 700 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Stegosauria, among the plated dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Amargastegos
Amargastegos brevicollus
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Baiyinosaurus
Baiyinosaurus baojiensis
Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) · roughly 168.2 to 165.3 million years ago
Bashanosaurus
Bashanosaurus primitivus
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago