Australian.Geographic_2014_01-02

A diverse fauna including stegosaurs, sauropods and carnivorous theropods has

been unearthed at the Dashanpu Quarry in China’s Sichuan Province.

T HE DINOSAURS OF ZIG ONG

Gigantospinosaurus sichuanenis

AGE: Late Jurassic

This medium-sized 4.2m stegosaur had small

plates along its back for defence, but also

giant shoulder spikes. A fossil skin impression

is one of very few known for stegosaurs.

Gasosaurus constructus

AGE: Middle Jurassic

This 3.5m killer pre-dated giant fl esh eaters

such as Yangchuanosaurus. Although it

was small, large claws on its hands and feet

would have made it a formidable adversary.

Shunosaurus lii

AGE: Middle Jurassic

This medium-sized, 10m-long sauropod had

a bony club at its tail tip, possibly with spikes

attached. This challenged the idea that sau-

ropods had no active defence capability.

Huayangosaurus taibaii

AGE: Middle Jurassic

This 4.3m-long, stocky herbivore had a row

of plates along its back for defence. It is the

oldest well-preserved stegosaur in the world.

Yangchuanosaurus helpingensis

AGE: Late Jurassic

Long before T. rex, this 9m predator stalked

the herbivores of south China. A muscled

head and neck, and teeth with steak-knife-

like ridges, helped it tear off chunks of fl esh.

d.

y g

Omeisaurus tianfuensis

AGE: Middle Jurassic

This up-to-20m-long herbivorous giant

sauropod may also have had a bony tail

club, similar to the smaller Shunosaurus.

More than ten individual specimens of

varying sizes have been found.

ILLUSTRATIONS COURTESY: ZIGONG DINOSAUR MUSEUM/YU YONG/LING MAN.

Middle Jurassic: 176-161 million years ago. Late Jurassic: 161-145 million years ago.

AUSTR ALIAN GEOGR APHIC SOCIETY

UPCOMING EXPEDITION

January –February 2014 103