Tuojiangosaurus

Taxobox
name = "Tuojiangosaurus"
fossil_range = Late Jurassic


image_width = 200px
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Ornithischia
subordo = Thyreophora
infraordo = Stegosauria
familia = Stegosauridae
genus = "Tuojiangosaurus"
genus_authority = Dong, Li, Zhou, and Zhang, 1977
subdivision_ranks=Species
subdivision=
*"T. multispinus" Dong "et al.", 1979 (type)

"Tuojiangosaurus" (meaning 'Tuo River lizard') is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period, recovered from the Upper Shaximiao Formation of what is now Sichuan Province in China. Physically similar to the North American "Stegosaurus", "Tuojiangosaurus" is the best understood of the Chinese stegosaurs. It was around 7.0 meters (23 ft) long and 2 meters (7 ft) high, with a postulated weight of around 4 metric tons (4.4 short tons).

Discovery and species

The type and only species, "T. multispinus", was named in 1977 (exactly a hundred years after "Stegosaurus") on the strength of two specimens, one over half complete. Like its compatriot "Kentrosaurus", it had two rows of pointed plates along the spine. It also had two outward-pointing spikes on each side of the end of the tail, angled approximately at 45 degrees to the vertical. In stegosaurs, this spike arrangement has become affectionately known as the "thagomizer".

Popular Culture

A mounted skeleton of "Tuojiangosaurus multispinus" is on display at the Municipal Museum of Chongqing. In addition, a mounted cast is on display at the Natural History Museum, in London.

References

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External links

* [http://internt.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/dino-directory/detail.dsml?Genus=Tuojiangosaurus Natural History Museum on "Tuojiangosaurus"]
* [http://www.dinoruss.com/de_4/5a77912.htm DinoRuss on "Tuojiangosaurus"]