Shantungosaurus

Last updated

Shantungosaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
~85–75  Ma
Laika ac Dino Kingdom 2012 (7882291466).jpg
Restored skeletons
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Ornithischia
Clade: Ornithopoda
Family: Hadrosauridae
Subfamily: Saurolophinae
Tribe: Edmontosaurini
Genus: Shantungosaurus
Hu, 1973
Species:
S. giganteus
Binomial name
Shantungosaurus giganteus
Hu, 1973
Synonyms
  • Zhuchengosaurus maximusZhao et al., 2007
  • Huaxiaosaurus aigahtensZhao et al., 2011

Shantungosaurus (meaning "Shandong Lizard") is a genus of very large saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur found in the Late Cretaceous Wangshi Group of the Shandong Peninsula in China, containing a single species, Shantungosaurus giganteus. [1] The stratigraphic interval of Shantungosaurus ranges from the top of the Xingezhuang Formation to the middle of the Hongtuya Formation, middle to late Campanian in age. [2] Shantungosaurus is so far the largest hadrosauroid taxon in the world, reaching between 15 metres (49 ft) to 16.6 metres (54 ft) in length and 13 metric tons (14 short tons) to 16 metric tons (18 short tons) in body mass.

Contents

History of discovery

Restoration Shantungosaurus life.png
Restoration

First described in 1973, [3] Shantungosaurus is known from over five incomplete skeletons. Chinese scientist Xing Xu and his colleagues indicate that Shantungosaurus is very similar to and shares many unique characters with Edmontosaurus , forming a node of an Edmontosaurus Shantungosaurus clade between North America and Asia, based on the new materials recovered in Shandong. Remains of several individuals, including skull bones, limb bones, and vertebrae, were found in Shandong, China. These specimens were classified in the new genus and species Zhuchengosaurus maximus in 2007. [4] However, further study showed that the supposedly distinct features of Zhuchengosaurus were simply a result of different growth stages. [5]

Description

Size comparison of several large ornithopods, Shantungosaurus in red Giant Ornithopod Scale.svg
Size comparison of several large ornithopods, Shantungosaurus in red

Shantungosaurus giganteus is one of the largest known ornithischians. The type skull is 1.63 metres (5.3 ft) long, [1] and the composite skeleton mounted at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing measures 14.7 metres (48 ft) in length. [6] Another mounted skeleton, originally referred to as Zhuchengosaurus maximus, measures 16.6 metres (54 ft) in length. [4] The largest individuals may have weighed as much as 16 tonnes (18 short tons). [7] In 2016, Gregory S. Paul suggested that previous studies have overestimated the size of this dinosaur, moderating it at 15 metres (49 ft) in length and 13 metric tons (14 short tons) in body mass, which still makes this dinosaur the largest hadrosaur. [8] Like all hadrosaurs its beak was toothless, but its jaws were packed with around 1,500 tiny chewing teeth. A large hole near its nostrils may have been covered by a loose flap of skin, which could be inflated to make sounds.

Classification

Sacrum once classified as Huaxiaosaurus Giant Shandong Dinosaur fossil, at the Geological Museum of China.jpg
Sacrum once classified as Huaxiaosaurus

Recent maximum parsimony-based phylogenetic analyses of Hadrosauroidea from Xing and colleagues recovered a stable sister group relationship between Edmontosaurus and Shantungosaurus. Shantungosaurus is the single hadrosaurid from the Zhucheng area that is considered valid. Zhuchengosaurus and Huaxiaosaurus, both of which are known from the same region, have been interpreted by the analyses as junior synonyms of Shantungosaurus. All unequivocal morphological discrepancies among these three taxa could be attributed to intraspecific variation (ontogenetic and polymorphic variation) and post-depositional distortion. [2]

The following cladogram is the result of Prieto-Márquez et al. in 2016. It shows the position of Shantungosaurus as sister group of Edmontosaurus in the Edmontosaurini clade: [9]

Telmatosaurus

Jintasaurus

Lophorhothon

Claosaurus

Tethyshadros

Hadrosauridae

Hadrosaurus

Eotrachodon

Saurolophidae

Lambeosaurinae

Saurolophinae

Acristavus

Maiasaura

Brachylophosaurus

Naashoibitosaurus

Kritosaurus

Gryposaurus

‘’Aquilarhinus’’

Willinakaqe

Secernosaurus

"Sabinosaur" PASAC-1

Prosaurolophus

Augustynolophus

Saurolophus

Kerberosaurus

Kundurosaurus

Shantungosaurus

Edmontosaurus

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Hadrosaurus</i> Hadrosaurid dinosaur genus from the Late Cretaceous

Hadrosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaurs that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now the Woodbury Formation about 78-80 Ma. The holotype specimen was found in fluvial marine sedimentation, meaning that the corpse of the animal was transported by a river and washed out to sea.

<i>Edmontosaurus</i> Hadrosaurid dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous US and Canada

Edmontosaurus, often colloquially and historically known as Anatosaurus or Anatotitan, is a genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur. It contains two known species: Edmontosaurus regalis and Edmontosaurus annectens. Fossils of E. regalis have been found in rocks of western North America that date from the late Campanian age of the Cretaceous period 73 million years ago, while those of E. annectens were found in the same geographic region from rocks dated to the end of the Maastrichtian age, 66 million years ago. Edmontosaurus was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs to ever exist, and lived alongside dinosaurs like Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and Pachycephalosaurus shortly before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

<i>Claosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Claosaurus is a genus of hadrosauroid dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period (Santonian-Campanian).

<i>Gryposaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Gryposaurus was a genus of duckbilled dinosaur that lived about 80 to 75 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous of North America. Named species of Gryposaurus are known from the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada, and two formations in the United States: the Lower Two Medicine Formation in Montana and the Kaiparowits Formation of Utah. A possible additional species from the Javelina Formation in Texas may extend the temporal range of the genus to 66 million years ago.

<i>Olorotitan</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Olorotitan was a monotypic genus of lambeosaurine duck-billed dinosaur, containing a single species, Olorotitan arharensis. It was among the last surviving non-avian dinosaurs to go extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, having lived from the middle to late Maastrichtian-age of the Late Cretaceous era. The remains were found in the Udurchukan Formation beds of Kundur, Arkharinsky District, Amur Oblast, Eastern Russia, in the vicinity of the Amur River.

<i>Barsboldia</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Barsboldia is a genus of large hadrosaurid dinosaur from the early Maastrichtian Nemegt Formation of Ömnogöv', Mongolia. It is known from a partial vertebral column, partial pelvis, and some ribs.

<i>Mandschurosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Mandschurosaurus is an extinct genus of hadrosaurids based on material from the Late Cretaceous of China and possibly also the Early Cretaceous of Laos. It was the first dinosaur genus named from China.

<i>Kerberosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Kerberosaurus was a genus of saurolophine duckbill dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous Tsagayan Formation of Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, Russia. It is based on bonebed material including skull remains indicating that it was related to Saurolophus and Prosaurolophus.

Microhadrosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Campanian or Maastrichtian-age Upper Cretaceous Yuanpu Formation of Guangdong, China. Although its name identifies it as a small hadrosaur, it is based on juvenile remains, and the size of the adult hadrosaur is unknown.

<i>Prosaurolophus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Prosaurolophus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. It is known from the remains of at least 25 individuals belonging to two species, including skulls and skeletons, but it remains obscure. Its fossils have been found in the late Campanian-age Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, and the roughly contemporaneous Two Medicine Formation in Montana, dating to around 75.5-74.0 million years ago. Its most recognizable feature is a small solid crest formed by the nasal bones, sticking up in front of the eyes.

<i>Naashoibitosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmontosaurini</span> Extinct tribe of dinosaurs

Edmontosaurini are a tribe of saurolophine hadrosaur dinosaurs that lived in the Northern Hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous period. It currently contains Edmontosaurus, Shantungosaurus and Laiyangosaurus, and Kamuysaurus. Kerberosaurus and Kundurosaurus from Russia could also be members, though they are more likely saurolophins.

Nanningosaurus is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from the upper Late Cretaceous of the Nalong Basin, Guangxi, China.

<i>Edmontosaurus regalis</i> Extinct species of dinosaur

Edmontosaurus regalis is a species of comb-crested hadrosaurid dinosaur. Fossils of E. regalis have been found in rocks of western North America that date from the late Campanian age of the Cretaceous Period 73 million years ago, but it may have possibly lived into the early Maastrichtian.

<i>Edmontosaurus annectens</i> Hadrosaurid species from the Late Cretaceous Period

Edmontosaurus annectens, often colloquially and historically known as the Anatosaurus, is a species of flat-headed saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian age at the very end of the Cretaceous period, in what is now western North America. Remains of E. annectens have been preserved in the Frenchman, Hell Creek, and Lance Formations. All of these formations are dated to the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, which represents the last three million years before the extinction of the dinosaurs. E. annectens is also found in the Laramie Formation and magnetostratigraphy suggests an age of 69-68 Ma for the Laramie Formation. Edmontosaurus annectens is known from numerous specimens, including at least twenty partial to complete skulls, discovered in the U.S. states of Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado, as well as the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It had an extremely long and low skull and was quite a large animal, growing up to approximately 12 metres (39 ft) in length and 5.6 metric tons in average asymptotic body mass, although it could have been even larger. E. annectens exhibits one of the most striking examples of the "duckbill" snout that is common to hadrosaurs. It has a long taxonomic history and specimens have at times been classified as Diclonius, Trachodon, Hadrosaurus, Claosaurus, Thespesius, Anatosaurus, and Anatotitan before all being grouped together in Edmontosaurus

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wangshi Group</span>

The Wangshi Group is a geological Group in Shandong, China whose strata date back to the Coniacian to Campanian stages of the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the group.

<i>Sinoceratops</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Sinoceratops is an extinct genus of ceratopsian dinosaur that lived approximately 73 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period in what is now Shandong province in China. It was named in 2010 by Xu Xing et al. for three skulls from Zhucheng, China. The name of its type species Sinoceratops zhuchengensis means "Chinese horned face from Zhucheng", after the location of its discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ankylopollexia</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Ankylopollexia is an extinct clade of ornithischian dinosaurs that lived from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous. It is a derived clade of iguanodontian ornithopods and contains the subgroup Styracosterna. The name stems from the Greek word, “ankylos”, mistakenly taken to mean stiff, fused, and the Latin word, “pollex”, meaning thumb. Originally described in 1986 by Sereno, a most likely synapomorphic feature of a conical thumb spine defines the clade.

<i>Kundurosaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Kundurosaurus is an extinct genus of saurolophine hadrosaurid dinosaur known from the Latest Cretaceous of Amur Region, Far Eastern Russia. It contains a single species, Kundurosaurus nagornyi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of hadrosaur research</span>

This timeline of hadrosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the hadrosauroids, a group of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs popularly known as the duck-billed dinosaurs. Scientific research on hadrosaurs began in the 1850s, when Joseph Leidy described the genera Thespesius and Trachodon based on scrappy fossils discovered in the western United States. Just two years later he published a description of the much better-preserved remains of an animal from New Jersey that he named Hadrosaurus.

References

  1. 1 2 Hu Chengzhi; Cheng Zhengwu; Pang Qiping; Fang Xiaosi (2001). Shantungosaurus giganteus (in Chinese). Beijing: Geological Publishing House. pp. 123–135 [English abstract]. ISBN   7-116-03472-2.
  2. 1 2 Xing, Hai; Zhao, Xijin; Wang, Kebai; Li, Dunjing; Chen, Shuqing; Mallon, Jordan C; Zhang, Yanxia; Xu, Xing (2014). "Comparative osteology and phylogenetic relationship of Edmontosaurus and Shantungosaurus (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of North America and East Asia". Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition. 88 (6): 1623–1652. doi:10.1111/1755-6724.12334. S2CID   84026961.
  3. C.-C. Hu. 1973. [A new hadrosaur from the Cretaceous of Chucheng, Shantung]. Acta Geologica Sinica1973(2):179-206
  4. 1 2 Zhao, X.; Li, D.; Han, G.; Hao, H.; Liu, F.; Li, L.; Fang, X. (2007). "Zhuchengosaurus maximus from Shandong Province". Acta Geoscientia Sinica. 28 (2): 111–122. doi:10.3321/j.issn:1006-3021.2007.02.002. S2CID   119700784.
  5. Ji, Y., Wang, X., Liu, Y., and Ji, Q. (2011). "Systematics, behavior and living environment of Shantungosaurus giganteus (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae)." Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition), 85(1): 58-65. doi : 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2011.00378.x
  6. Glut, Donald F. (1997). "Shantungosaurus". Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co. pp. 816–817. ISBN   0-89950-917-7.
  7. Horner, John R.; Weishampel, David B.; Forster, Catherine A (2004). "Hadrosauridae". In Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 438–463. ISBN   0-520-24209-2.
  8. Paul, Gregory S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press. p. 330. ISBN   978-1-78684-190-2. OCLC   985402380.
  9. Prieto-Marquez, Albert; Erickson, Gregory M.; Ebersole, Jun A. (13 January 2016). "A primitive hadrosaurid from southeastern North America and the origin and early evolution of 'duck-billed' dinosaurs". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 36 (2): e1054495. Bibcode:2016JVPal..36E4495P. doi:10.1080/02724634.2015.1054495. S2CID   86032549.

Sources