Fun Shaochilong Facts For Kids

Dinosaurs are among the oldest forms of life on earth. The first dinosaur in history was discovered around 231 million years ago. They were informally named Alashansaurus.

The Shaochilong is known by its scientific name Shaochilong maortuensis. They were seen in the mid-cretaceous period over a million years ago. They are an extinct genus of Carcharodontosaurid dinosauria theropoda and were found in the Ulansuhai formation of China about 92 million years ago.

Shaochilong (Shaochilong maortuensis) was a carnivore and consumed insects, fish, and animals. They had sharp teeth suitable to tear apart their prey.

These large-bodied dinosaurs reside in forests and grasslands and their fossils were traced in China. The Shaochilong skeleton was found in China, in in the Ulansuhai formation and Asia. The primary remains and fossils that were found constituted of skull fragments, an axis vertebra along six caudal vertebrae.

These Gondwanan Carcharodontosaurids fragmentary nature lead it to be classified under the Chilantaisaurus genus, a theropod dinosaur. For more relatable content, check out these facts on the brontosaurus and orodromeus.

Shaochilong Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Shaochilong'?

Shaochilong is pronounced 'sh-ow-chi-long' and was a large-bodied theropod and their name means shark-toothed dragon.

What type of dinosaur was a Shaochilong?

Shaochilong is a type of large-bodied theropod from the mid cretaceous (Turonian of the cretaceous) period, whose skull fragments were found in China.

In which geological period did the Shaochilong roam the earth?

Shaochilong roamed the earth from the mid cretaceous (Turonian of the cretaceous) period not to the middle-late Jurassic and their fossils were found in Ulansuhai formation of China about 92 million years ago found through research and analysis by paleontologists.

When did the Shaochilong become extinct?

Shaochilong history is dated to the middle cretaceous (Turonian of the late cretaceous) period. They lived million years ago and 65 million years ago they became extinct after living on earth for a period of 165 million years.

Where did a Shaochilong live?

The gondwanan Carcharodontosaurids lived in forests and grasslands. Their fossil/remains were spotted in Ulansuhai formation in China and were found through research conducted by scientists.

What was a Shaochilong's habitat?

Shaochilong habitat constitutes forests and grasslands. They lived within their habitat range for the most part. They were carnivores and consumed meat available within their habitat range. Shaochilong location is seen in Ulansuhai formation, Inner Mongolia, China.

Who did a Shaochilong live with?

Shaochilong is among large theropod that lived with other species of their own kind including Mapusaurus and others. They were informally named Alashansaurus. They lived within their habitat range itself throughout their existence.

How long did a Shaochilong live?

Shaochilong exact life expectancy is not evaluated. Megalosaurus is believed to be the first dinosaur ever in the world and was discovered in 1819 by a hunter William Buckland.

How did they reproduce?

Shaochilong reproduces sexually. The male released sperm into the female and the eggs would fertilize internally within the female. The female would lay eggs and protect them at all times. Juvenile theropods are relatively small in size. The parents would remain present at all till they were independent.

Shaochilong Fun Facts

What did a Shaochilong look like?

Shaochilong features constitute that they were a large theropod dinosaur. They have a head including their eyes, nose as well as mouth as per their description. The mouth is made up of sharp teeth which they used to attack their prey.

This was followed by their neck and their spine, which extends all the way to the back as per their description. They have both forelimbs as well as hindlimbs. Their forelimbs are shorter as compared to her hindlimbs. The last part of their body is their tail.

Only one specimen of the Shaochilong dinosaur was found. This specimen helped in uncovering their overall anatomy. No such information about this dinosaur being slimy has been recorded.

How many bones did a Shaochilong have?

The Shaochilong maortuensis osteology features were similar to other theropod dinosaurs from the known specimen. The known specimen fossils consisted of skull fragments including a braincase, partial skull, quadrates, right maxilla, axis, and caudal vertebrae. Their femur length is 23.2 in (58.8 cm), skull length is 21.3 in (54 cm).

Their features have been developed through both fossil remains as well as phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic analysis is the study of the diversification of species. Only one specimen of Shaichilong was found.

How did they communicate?

The gondwanan Carcharodontosaurids communicated via body language and auditory means. They would also engage in fights to showcase their dominance and marking their territory.

How big was a Shaochilong?

Shaochilong was 196.9- 236.2 in (5-6 m) in length, which is times four bigger than the nanosaurus which is 47.2 in (1.2 m) in length.

How fast could a Shaochilong move?

The exact speed of the Shaochilong dinosaurs is not known. Large dinosaurs require relatively less time to get from one place to another.

How much did a Shaochilong weigh?

Shaochilong size wildlife weighed 1102.3 lb (500 kg). Juvenile dinosaurs were lighter as compared to adults.

What were the male and female names of the species?

Shaochilong belongs to the Chilantaisaurus genus and males and females were not addressed differently. Male and female dinosaurs may have looked similar in appearance, however they differed in their reproductive functions.

What would you call a baby Shaochilong?

Baby Shaochilong theropods are referred to as hatchlings. Young theropods were completely dependent on adult theropods until they grew up and became independent themselves.

What did they eat?

These dinosaurs were primarily carnivores and consumed a meat-based diet. They were predators to Insects, fish, and animals that existed at the time. As predators, they would primarily attack using their teeth.

How aggressive were they?

They may be aggressive beings and their presence itself felt dangerous owing to their large size and shape. Their external features were scary and they possessed sharp teeth. They were popularly called sharp-toothed dragons. There were very few predators of these large dinosaurs.

Did you know...

In early years, there was only one supercontinent called Pangea. This was a theory developed by Alfred Wegener in the years 1880-1930.

The Pangea supercontinent was divided into Laurasia, comprised of modern-day Europe North America and northern Asia and Gondwana land comprised of Africa, South America, India now part of Asia, and Australia. Certain early dinosaur species were present on Gondwanaland as per history and this time period played a major part in evolution.

Tyrannosaurids stand for tyrant lizards and are subdivided into 13 genera. Tyrannosaurids are among one of the only species whose most complete remains have been found. The first tyrannosaurids were uncovered through their teeth. Basal tetanurae is a clade including the most number of theropod dinosaurs. Basal tetanurae includes allosauroids, Allosaurus, tyrannosoroids, giganotosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, among others.

How did they get their name?

The history behind Shaochilong theropod dinosaurs names is simple and their meaning is 'shark-toothed dragon' and pronounced 'sh-ow-chi-long'. Their name meaning was a direct reference to the shape of their teeth.

The species name is derived from the original classification of the Shaochilong material, Chilantaisaurus, which is commonly seen when there is the splitting of a species from an established genus into its own new genus. Although, they are currently classified as different genera. They are still related to one another.

How strong were their teeth?

Shaochilong teeth are known to be strong based on the fossil specimens/remains of the same. The specimens were classified along with carcharodontosaurid group and were named after Carcharodon shark genus including the great white shark.

So you could imagine how sharp their teeth were. They were primarily carnivorous and could easily tear apart their prey using their teeth hence their name was derived from their sharp tooth. And they did bite too!

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 sauropelta facts, or harpactognathus facts for kids.

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

Main image by FunkMonk (Michael B. H.).

Second image by Slate Weasel.