Fun Shamosaurus Facts For Kids

The Shamosaurus scutatus is a member of an extinct genus of herbivorous basal Ankylosaurid Ankylosaurs. It lived during the lower cretaceous period, between the Aptian to Albian stage.

The fossil excavation in 1977 by a Soviet-Mongolian expedition led to the discovery of a skeleton of an unknown Ankylosaurid. The fossils were found in the Charmin-Us site of Dornogovi Province. This was the first-ever of an ankylosaur in Mongolia, China that belonged to the Lower cretaceous era.

Tatyana Tumanova in 1983, named and described the dinosaur species as Shamosaurus scutatus. The generic name given by Tumanova is taken from the language Mandarin, where sha mo means sand desert, which is the Chinese name for the Gobi desert which is in China and Saurus means lizard.

The specific name is protected by a shield in Latin kept on the body armor that the dinosaur has.

The holotype specimens are known from the fossils that were excavated from the Dzunbain Formation, from the Aptian-Albian stage, about 115 million years ago. The holotype consisted of a skull, lower jaws, partial postcranial with armor. The skull with two cervical half-rings is exhibited in the Paleontological Institute of Moscow.

Scroll down to read about the Shamosaurus scutatus's life, what they fed on, their habits, and other exciting details! If you want to discover more like the Shamosaurus, take a look at the Nodosaurus and Silvisaurus.

Shamosaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Shamosaurus'?

The name of the Shamosaurus should be pronounced as shah-maw-sore-us.

What type of dinosaur was a Shamosaurus?

The Shamosaurus scutatus belongs to the genus of basal Ankylosaurid Ankylosaurs. They belonged to the clade Dinosauria and order Ornithischia. Their diet was herbivorous.

Tatyana Tumanova in 1983, named and described the dinosaur species as Shamosaurus scutatus. The generic name given by Tumanova is taken from the language Mandarin, where sha mo means sand desert, which is the Chinese name for the Gobi desert. The specific name is protected by a shield in Latin, kept on the body armor the dinosaur has.

In which geological period did the Shamosaurus roam the earth?

This dinosaur species lived during the Lower Cretaceous period, between the Aptian to Albian stage.

When did the Shamosaurus become extinct?

Dinosaurs, in general, went extinct almost 65 million years ago, that is, at the end of the Cretaceous period, after living on the earth for about 165 million years.

But this species existed in the Early Cretaceous period of the Aptian-Albian stage, about 115 million years ago, which means it became extinct way before the end of the dinosaur era.

Where did a Shamosaurus live?

The Shamosaurus was a herbivore which means it inhabited areas that had dense vegetation. They weren't tall and therefore chose areas that had smaller trees and bushes so that they can reach. They stayed in robust areas with a lot of plants and bushes in the area of present-day Mongolia, China.

What was a Shamosaurus' habitat?

The Shmaosaurus scutatus lived in the area of present-day Mongolia, China. The land structure was quite different during the Dinosauria era, but according to the shift in tectonic plates, they inhabited Mongolia.

Who did a Shamosaurus live with?

Fossil evidence points out, from both the bone bed and trackways, that sauropods were gregarious animals who lived and moved in herds. Mostly all Ankylosauria dinosaurs stayed in herds to protect themselves from predators.

How long did a Shamosaurus live?

There isn't a definite time frame of the life span but it has been estimated that they lived for almost 60-75 years like other Ankylosauria dinosaurs.

How did they reproduce?

Ankylosauria dinosaurs much like other reptiles mated with each other during the breeding season and in the case of this breed, the female dinosaur laid eggs. The eggs hatch after a certain period of time and newborn dinosaurs came out.

The adult dinosaurs took care of the newborns till they could move with their parents or go along with their new family.

Shamosaurus Fun Facts

What did a Shamosaurus look like?

The Shamosaurus scutatus was a medium-sized Dinosauria and the osteoderms on the roof of the skull of the dinosaur are not very prominent or separated as distinct head tiles. The squamosal horns on the skull of the desert lizard are short and a little rounded.

The skull of the Shamosaurus had quite a few similarities with basal ankylosaurid known as Gobisaurus.

The Shamosaurus had a flat skull and a snout-shaped beak at the front of the mouth. The upper beak was sharp and lacked teeth. The armor of the dinosaur contained two cervical half-rings which protected the neck.

How many bones did a Shamosaurus have?

The shamosaurus skeleton is still an incomplete specimen, as not much of it was excavated from the formation. Until there are proper excavations, the total number of bones can't be stated.

How did they communicate?

There is no specific mention on how they communicated as it is quite difficult to find, but they definitely didn't have modern means of communication. Like any other animal, dinosaurs also communicated by making sounds and using their body language. They might have included hoots and hollers to communicate as well.

How big was a Shamosaurus?

The Shamosaurus size is 192 in (4.9 m) in length. This makes it about eight times bigger in length than the painted turtle which is 4-10 in (0.1–0.3 m) in length.

How fast could a Shamosaurus move?

Being quadrupedal, this species was quite fast. Not nearly as fast as predators but enough to move around quickly.

How much did a Shamosaurus weigh?

The Shamosaurus was 4409.2 lb (2000 kg) in weight, which makes it about eight times heavier than the fallow deer that weighs 101.4-205 lb (46-93 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

There is no specific name for the male or female dinosaurs of this species and are commonly known as Shamosaurus scutatus or desert lizard. Search for the rest of the fossils is still going on and only after the complete discovery of the significant fossils can it be differentiated.

What would you call a baby Shamosaurus?

The newborn dinosaur was known as hatchling or nestling. This was common for most dinosaur species. There is no specific information on the names of newborns for this dinosaur as of now.

What did they eat?

The Shamosaurus diet consisted of plants and fruits found in the forest areas and woodlands. They weren't tall and therefore their diet consisted of low-growing vegetation. They consumed food like small plants and plant material using their snout-shaped beaks.

How aggressive were they?

Based on research, dinosaurs are divided into two groups, where sauropods are herbivores and don't attack each other or other dinosaurs, while theropods were meat-eaters and attacked each other and other dinosaurs as well. This species being a sauropod was quite friendly and wasn't aggressive at all.

They stayed together in harmony with other sauropod dinosaurs. The armor of these dinosaurs kept them safe from most bigger predators.

Did you know...

Tumanova placed the Shamosaurus in the Ankylosaurid genus, while Arbor recovered that this dinosaur was the sister species of Gobisaurus.

What fossils from the Shamosaurus have been found?

The fossil excavation in 1977 by a Soviet-Mongolian expedition led to the discovery of a skeleton of an unknown Ankylosaurid. The fossils were found in the Charmin-Us site of Dornogovi Province in Mongolia. This was the first-ever of an ankylosaur in Mongolia, China that belonged to the early cretaceous era.

The holotype specimens are known from the fossils that were excavated from the Dzunbain Formation, from the early cretaceous era, about 115 million years ago. The holotype found in the formation consisted of a skull, lower jaws, partial postcranial with armor. Tatyana Tumanova named the dinosaur species as Shamosaurus scutatus. Tumanova also described the dinosaur in 1983.

How are Shamosaurus and Ankylosaurus different?

The Shamosaurus and Ankylosaurus are both Dinosauria with armors. While the former is known as the desert lizard, the latter is known as the fused lizard. The Ankylosaurus is possibly the biggest Ankylosaur, while the Shamosarus is a medium-sized ankylosaurid.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Prosaurolophus interesting facts or Metriorhynchus facts for kids.

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

*We've been unable to source an image of a Coelosaurus and have used an image of a Triceratops instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of a Coelosaurus, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com