Pronunciation: CHUNG-CHIN-go-SOR-us
Meaning: Chongqing Lizard
Author/s: Dong, Zhou and Zhang (1983)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Chongqing, China
Discovery Chart Position: #298
Chungkingosaurus jiangbeiensis
1977, it seems, was the Chinese year of the Stegosaur, with many a "roof lizard" being un-earthed. However, Chungkingosaurus was the smallest of those and could well be the smallest ever from anywhere, especially since India's "dwarf stegosaur" Dravidosaurus turned out to be a sea-dwelling plesiosaur.
Despite its modest size, Chungkingosaurus was well-stacked. Its skull was relatively deep for a stegosaurid, and its lower jaw was robust with small, tightly packed, weakly-enamelled teeth. Its most distinguishing feature is its armour plates which were tall, thick and pointed but tallest over its hips, and it may have had four pairs of spikes on its thagomizer (assuming specimen sp. 3 belongs here) which would have made all the difference in the Jurassic of Chongqing.
Chungkingosaurus shared its time and place with fellow stegosaurids Tuojiangosaurus and Chialingosaurus and the sauropods Mamenchisaurus and Omeisaurus, and being the smallest of the lot meant it was probably singled out by the area's apex predator, Yangchuanosaurus, as the easiest meal.
In 2010, because of its modest size, Greg Paul suggested that Chungkingosaurus was merely the juvenile version of Tuojiangosaurus.
Despite its modest size, Chungkingosaurus was well-stacked. Its skull was relatively deep for a stegosaurid, and its lower jaw was robust with small, tightly packed, weakly-enamelled teeth. Its most distinguishing feature is its armour plates which were tall, thick and pointed but tallest over its hips, and it may have had four pairs of spikes on its thagomizer (assuming specimen sp. 3 belongs here) which would have made all the difference in the Jurassic of Chongqing.
Chungkingosaurus shared its time and place with fellow stegosaurids Tuojiangosaurus and Chialingosaurus and the sauropods Mamenchisaurus and Omeisaurus, and being the smallest of the lot meant it was probably singled out by the area's apex predator, Yangchuanosaurus, as the easiest meal.
In 2010, because of its modest size, Greg Paul suggested that Chungkingosaurus was merely the juvenile version of Tuojiangosaurus.
(Chungking lizard from Jiangbei)Etymology
Chungkingosaurus is derived from "Chungking" (the Wade-Giles Romanized version of Chongqing, for postal purposes) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard). The species epithet, jiangbeiensis, means "from Jiangbei" in Latin.
ZooBank registry: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:5F0C5467-75D2-431E-B2FE-0E234DDF0FA4.
Discovery
The first fossils of Chungkingosaurus were discovered in the Upper Shaximiao (Shangshaximiao) Formation at Maoershi in the Jiangbei District of Chongqing (Chungking) municipality, Sichuan Province, China, in 1977. The holotype (CV 00206) consists of ten vertebrae from its back, twenty three from its tail and five from its hip, a partial skull, both thighs and shins, a partial but straight, slender and long humerus, three toes and five armour plates. The whereabouts of much of that material, including the skull, is currently a mystery.
















