Tsagantegia

Say it like this: “tsah-gahn-TAY-gee-a”

Tsagantegia longicranialis

Tsagantegia ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mongolia.

Quiz me on Tsagantegia

When: Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Santonian) · roughly 100.5 to 83.6 million years ago
Named in: 1993 · Tumanova, T. A.
Hip height: Not established
Length: 6–7 m · 20–23 ft
Weight: 1–4 tonnes
Found in: Mongolia · Bayanshiree
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
Family branch: Ankylosaurinae

The story in short

The genus Tsagantegia dates to 1993, the year T. A. Tumanova described it. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Tsagantegia date to the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Santonian), roughly 100.5 to 83.6 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia, including the Bayanshiree Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Tsagantegia at a length near 6–7 m and a body mass around 1–4 tonnes.

On the family tree it sits in Ankylosaurinae, among the armored dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Akainacephalus

Akainacephalus johnsoni

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Ankylosaurus

Ankylosaurus magniventris

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago

Anodontosaurus

Anodontosaurus lambei

Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian) · roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago