Fun Chungkingosaurus Facts For Kids

Chungkingosaurus was a genus of dinosaurs belonging to the family of stegosaurs. It had a herbivorous diet and lived during the Oxfordian age of the Late Jurassic period. Chungkingosaurus fossils were found in Upper Shaximiao Formation in China. Like all stegosaurs, this dinosaur's most prominent feature was the plates and spikes arranged in pairs on its back. Another striking characteristic of this dinosaur was the two to three pairs of spikes at the end of its tail. In stegosaurs, this arrangement is referred to as a thagomizer. It is believed that the spikes were used for defense purposes against carnivores that would have existed within the same range during the Late Jurassic period. It was a relatively small dinosaur compared to others of its family and was also more primitive regarding its bone structure, as seen from a number of its skull and skeleton specimens.

The name, Chungkingosaurus, was given to it by Dong Zhiming, Zhou Shiwu, and Zhang Yihong in 1983, and is a reference to the municipality of Chongqing in China, near which many of the fossils of this dinosaur were found. The meaning of its name also translates to Chongqing lizard. The type species of this genus is C. jiangbeiensis, where the specific epithet refers to the Jiangbei district of Chongqing. Here are some interesting facts about this spiked dinosaur from the Late Jurassic period!

If you want to learn more about other similar dinosaurs, check out our Crichtonsaurus fun facts and Sauropelta facts pages.

How do you pronounce 'Chungkingosaurus'?

The phonetic pronunciation of Chungkingosaurus is 'Chun-king-o-sore-us'.

What type of dinosaur was a Chungkingosaurus?

This dinosaur was a type of ornithischian dinosaur. It was one of many stegosaurs, which are characterized by their armored bodies that mostly consist of spikes and plates on the back. Most of them also consumed a herbivorous diet.

In which geological period did the Chungkingosaurus roam the earth?

These dinosaurs lived on Earth during the Oxfordian age of the Late Jurassic period, about 163.5-157.3 million years ago.

When did the Chungkingosaurus become extinct?

Though the time and reason for their extinction is not known yet, all specimens have been found dating back to 163.5-157.3 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period. Thus, it can be concluded that they would not have existed after that time period. However, many stegosaurs have been known to have existed till the Middle Cretaceous period.

Where did a Chungkingosaurus live?

A dinosaur of this genus would have been found in the forests of modern day China, in the Sichuan Province.

What was a Chungkingosaurus' habitat?

During the Late Jurassic, this dinosaur would have been found in a terrestrial environment. Its small size would have enabled it to live in dense forests as well as grasslands, where other stegosaurs of larger sizes would have lived.

Who did a Chungkingosaurus live with?

This dinosaur is considered to have been a sociable animal, and would have coexisted with a lot of other herbivorous dinosaurs like Tuojiangosaurus and Chialingosaurus, which have also been found in the Upper Shaximiao Formation, and lived during the Late Jurassic.

How long did a Chungkingosaurus live?

The lifespan of a dinosaur of this kind is undetermined, but some stegosaurs were known to live upwards of 80 years of age.

How did they reproduce?

These dinosaurs were oviparous, that is, they reproduced by laying eggs. Some scientists have suggested that some stegosaurids from the Late Jurassic period displayed sexual dimorphism in the form of different shapes of the plates on the back of their bodies. However, this claim is currently not considered to be true due to the possibility of misidentification and lack of more evidence.

What did a Chungkingosaurus look like?

The Chungkingosaurus was a herbivore with a relatively small body length and was known for the two rows of big plates and spikes on its back. Specimens of a skeleton revealed that it had around 14 pairs of plates on its back. According to Dong, there were also two to three pairs of spikes at the end of its tail, called the thagomizer in many stegosaurs. These tail end spikes are pointed towards the sides and are thought to have served as a type of defensive weapon. The skull was thick but narrow and it had a deep snout. This could have been an adaptation to help it eat tougher vegetation.

How many bones did a Chungkingosaurus have?

Though the total number of bones in a Chungkingosaurus is not known, the Stegosaurus, also belonging to the same family, is believed to have had around 27 bones in its vertebral column and 46 vertebrae along the length of its tail.

How did they communicate?

It is unclear how or whether these dinosaurs could communicate with each other.

How big was a Chungkingosaurus?

The body length of this dinosaur is estimated to be in the range of 157.4-197 in (4-5 m), and its height would have been around 145 in (3.7 m).

How fast could a Chungkingosaurus move?

These dinosaurs are said to have been fairly active but they would not have been very fast, given their body weight.

How much did a Chungkingosaurus weigh?

The weight of a Chungkingosaurus is unknown, but it would have been less than 2,200 lb (1,000 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

These dinosaurs did not have specific names according to the sex of the dinosaur.

What would you call a baby Chungkingosaurus?

A baby dinosaur could have been called a hatchling. When it would have grown older but had not become a full grown adult yet, it would have been called a juvenile.

What did they eat?

This dinosaur was a herbivore, and thus, its diet would have included low lying vegetation and various kinds of plants that would have been available during the Late Jurassic.

They were probably preyed upon by a number of carnivorous dinosaurs, such as Sinraptors and the Yangchuanosaurus.

How aggressive were they?

This dinosaur would not have been a very aggressive one as it was a herbivore, and all the spikes on its back and tail were only for defense. Thus, it is likely that it would not have hurt anyone unless provoked or attacked.

Did you know...

The small size of the Chungkingosaurus has led many to believe that it was a juvenile form of the Tuojiangosaurus that was also a type of dinosaur found in the Upper Shaximiao Formation and lived during the Late Jurassic. This was because the primitive nature of the skull and teeth of this dinosaur showed the potential to further develop into an adult Tuojiangosaurus.

What continent did the Chungkingosaurus live on?

This dinosaur lived in Asia, and several fossils of it have been excavated from the Sichuan Province of China.

When was the Chungkingosaurus first found?

The first specimen of the Chungkingosaurus was found in 1977, from the Upper Shaximiao Formation in China, and was dated back to the Late Jurassic period. It was only named in 1983 by Dong Zhiming, Zhou Shiwu, and Zhang Yihong.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! To know more about other dinosaurs, check out our Metriorhynchus facts and Zigongosaurus facts for kids pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Chungkingosaurus coloring pages.

Main image by Ayca Wilson and second image by Paleocolour.

*Please note that this is an image of a Tuojiangosaurus, a dinosaur similar to the Chungkingosaurus. If you have an image of the Chungkingosaurus, please let us know at [email protected].