Pronunciation: SHAHN-DUNG-o-SOR-us
Meaning: Shandong lizard
Author/s: Hu (1973)
Synonyms: Zhuchengosaurus?, Huaxiaosaurus?
First Discovery: Shandong, China
Discovery Chart Position: #234
Shantungosaurus giganteus
Shantungosaurus was huge to the tune of fifteen meters long and as heavy as a couple of elephants, which wouldn't raise an eyebrow if it was a sauropod. But it's not. It's a saurolophine (formerly known as hadrosaurines) which are the duckbilliest of the duckbilled dinosaurs, and was the largest known ornithiscian until Zhuchengosaurus came along and stole its thunder.
In the past, palaeontologists entertained the notion that its thin but incredibly deep tail was a paddle for an aquatic lifestyle, and that its nostrils may have been adorned with a large skinflap or sack (we can't help thinking "whoppee cushion") which may have been inflated for communication and identification purposes, though there is no actual evidence for either. Like all hadrosaurids, the beak of Shantungosaurus was toothless but its jaws were packed with banks of small, replaceable, leaf-decimating teeth. Size not withstanding, it bears an uncanny resemblance to Edmontosaurus.
Wang, Liu and two Jis revisited Zhao's Zhuchengosaurus in 2011 and concluded that its supposedly unique features were age-related and it was merely an older and larger specimen of Shantungosaurus, which was discovered less than 100 meters away. Prior to that, Zhao had also named an even bigger saurolophine from roughly the same locality Huaxiaosaurus aigahtens, but that is almost certainly a specimen of Shantungosaurus too.
In the past, palaeontologists entertained the notion that its thin but incredibly deep tail was a paddle for an aquatic lifestyle, and that its nostrils may have been adorned with a large skinflap or sack (we can't help thinking "whoppee cushion") which may have been inflated for communication and identification purposes, though there is no actual evidence for either. Like all hadrosaurids, the beak of Shantungosaurus was toothless but its jaws were packed with banks of small, replaceable, leaf-decimating teeth. Size not withstanding, it bears an uncanny resemblance to Edmontosaurus.
Wang, Liu and two Jis revisited Zhao's Zhuchengosaurus in 2011 and concluded that its supposedly unique features were age-related and it was merely an older and larger specimen of Shantungosaurus, which was discovered less than 100 meters away. Prior to that, Zhao had also named an even bigger saurolophine from roughly the same locality Huaxiaosaurus aigahtens, but that is almost certainly a specimen of Shantungosaurus too.
Etymology
Shantungosaurus is derived from "Shandong" (its place of discovery) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard).
The species epithet, giganteus, refers to its gigantic-ness. Its holotype femur (thighbone) alone measures two meters in length!
Discovery
The remains of Shantungosaurus were discovered at Longgujian Quarry in the Xingezhuang Formation of the Wangshi Group (previously known as the Wangshi Formation), Kugou Village, Zhucheng County, Shandong Province, China.
The holotype (IVPP V1780) is a partial skull, 1.63 metres long. The first Shantungosaurus mount, put together from the remains of five individuals, resides at the Geological Institute of China in Beijing and measures almost fifteen meters in length. A second mounted skeleton, which was originally referred to Zhuchengosaurus maximus, measures over 16.5 meters, which is longer than many sauropods.
