Wuerhosaurus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wuerhosaurus Fossil range: Early Cretaceous |
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Wuerhosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of China. It was roughly 7 metres long (23 ft).
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[edit] Discovery and species
Wuerhosaurus homheni is the type species, described by Dong Zhiming in 1973 from the Tugulu Group in Xinjiang, western China. A smaller species from the Ejinhoro Formation in the Ordos Basin in Inner Mongolia, W. ordosensis, was formalized by the same researcher in 1993.
[edit] Paleobiology
It was lower to the ground than most other stegosaurids; scientists believe that this was an adaptation to let it feed on low-growing vegetation. Unlike Stegosaurus, Wuerhosaurus had shorter, rounded plates, whose purpose is debated. Wuerhosaurus, like other stegosaurids, had a thagomizer on the end of its tail, which featured four bony spikes that would most likely have been used for self-defense.
[edit] References
- Dong Zhiming (1992). Dinosaurian Faunas of China. China Ocean Press, Beijing. ISBN 3-540-52084-8.
[edit] External links
- Wuerhosaurus at Thescelosaurus!
