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Yingshanosaurus
Yingshanosauras whose full name is Yingshanosauras jichuanensis, is a dinosaur that roamed the earth bout 150 million years ago. It belonged to the stegosaurus genus which is well known for having plates and spikes along the back and tail for protection. Yingshanosauras was apparently a highly developed animal.
Yingshanosauras was a rather large land animal which walked on all fours having its shorter limbs in the front and a thick rounded back side. As it walked, its head would remain low to the ground while its tail would go up in the air. A rather short neck supported its tiny head which likely resembled the head of a lizard.
The Yingshanosauras was an herbivore and he likely ate whatever vegetation was available in the region. He was not an unusually aggressive animal however he was well prepared physically to defend himself.
While he bears similarities to another stegosaurus species: the Tuojiangosaurus there are a couple of distinct details about this stegosaurus which sets him apart from other dinosaurs. A couple of which is that he lived in the region that we know today as Yingshan, China, and that this species had a prominent pair of flat wing-like spines about his shoulders.
Apparently these wing-like spines on his shoulders were huge, and much like the spines along his tail, these shoulder spines were likely used as an instrument of self defense. He also had two rows of plates along his back rather than just one row.
Knowledge of this dinosaur’s existence is relatively new with discovery and documentation beginning in the mid 1980s, and further archeological research will be needed to know much more about the Yingshanosauras. In fact the only known fossil records have been lost which has posed a major setback in attaining and confirming information about the species. The full name Yingshanosauras jichuanensis is merely an incomplete informal description. More information about his genus is yet needed to give him a more suitable name.
The discovery of Yingshanosauras is encouraging and we hope to learn much more about this species as further fossil discoveries are made.
1. When Discovered: Late Jurassic, circa 145 mya
2. Weight: Unknown
3. Region: Yingshan, China
4. Diet: Herbivore
5. Height: Unknown
6. Length: 5 meters (17 ft)