Pinacosaurus

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Quick Facts
Name	Pinacosaurus
Diet	Herbivore
Weight	1400 kilos
Length	5 meters
Height	2 meters
Period	Late Cretaceous

Pinacosaurus was a genus of tylophorous ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived approximately 80 to 75 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous, mainly in Mongolia and China. In 1923 the first genus was discovered and in 1933 it was given the name Pinacosaurus grangeri and in 1999 Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus.

It was an atypical ankylosaur, about five meters long and weighing up to two tons. Its body was robust, with armored shields on its back and a club-shaped tail, all mounted on four short, stout legs. It had egg-shaped holes arranged in two pairs that appear in the skull where the nostrils are normally located. It walked on four legs and lived in herds. They were herbivorous animals that traveled together to make it difficult to be singled out by predators such as Linheraptor, Byronosaurus and Velociraptor. However, it could also defend itself by means of a tail club. It has a smooth beak and rows of small teeth that pull them out of low-growing plants and then swallow them to be processed by the huge hindgut.

What does Pinacosaurus mean?

The name Pinacosaurus means "Plate lizard".

What did Pinacosaurus eat?

Pinacosaurus was a herbivorous dinosaur that had a smooth beak and rows of small teeth on low-growing plants and then swallowed it to be processed by the huge hindgut.

Where did Pinacosaurus live?

Pinacosaurus was a genus of ankylosaurid tylophorid dinosaur that lived approximately 80 to 75 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous, mainly in Mongolia and China.

Where did they live?

When did they live?

What was your diet?

Who discovered them?

What kind of dinosaurs are they?

What type of species are they?

How are they classified?

References

* Hill, R. V.; Witmer, L. W.; Norell, M. A. (2003). "A New Specimen of Pinacosaurus grangeri (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia: Ontogeny and Phylogeny of Ankylosaurs". American Museum Novitiates (3395): 1-29.
Dixon, Dougal. 'The Complete Book of Dinosaurs.' Hermes House, 2006.
Gilmore, C. W. (December 4, 1933). "Two new dinosaurian reptiles from Mongolia with notes on some fragmentary specimens". American Museum Novitiates (679): 1-20.
Godefroit, P., Pereda-Suberbiola, X., Li H. & Dong Z., (1999). "A new species of the ankylosaurid dinosaur Pinacosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (P. R. China)." Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre, 69 Suppl. B:17-36.
Young, C. C. (1935). "On a new nodosaurid from Ninghsia.". Palaeontologica Sinica, Series C (11): 5-27.
Maleev, E. A. (1952). [A new ankylosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Asia. Doklady Akad. Nauk S.S.S.S.R. 87: 273-276.
Jerzykiewicz, T., Currie, P.J. Eberth, D.A., Johnston, P.A., Koster, E.H., and Zheng, J.J. (1993). Djadoktha Formation correlative strata in Chinese Inner Mongolia: an overview of the stratigraphy sedimentary geology, and paleontology and comparisons with the type locality in the pre-Altai Gobi. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 30, 2180-2195.
Maryanska, T. (1971). New data on the skull of Pinacosaurus grangeri (Ankylosauria). Palaeontol. Polonica 25: 45-53.
Maryanska, T. (1977) Ankylosauridae (Dinosauria) from Mongolia. Paleontol. Polinica 37, 85-151

Fun Facts

The name Pinacosaurus means "Plate lizard".
It was a plant-eating dinosaur.
He walked on all fours.
They traveled in herds.
It could also defend itself by means of a glue stick.