Tsintaosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tsintaosaurus |
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| Holotype skull with broken crest | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | †Ornithopoda |
| Family: | †Hadrosauridae |
| Tribe: | †Tsintaosaurini |
| Genus: | †Tsintaosaurus Young, 1958 |
| Type species | |
| †Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus Young, 1958
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Tsintaosaurus (which means "Qingdao lizard") is a type of dinosaur called a hadrosaur. It was discovered in China.
Like other hadrosaurs, Tsintaosaurus could walk on all four legs. But it was also able to stand and move around on just its two back legs. These dinosaurs likely lived together in large groups, like herds of modern animals.
Contents
About Tsintaosaurus
Tsintaosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period. This was about 70 million years ago. It was a plant-eating dinosaur. Scientists believe it ate leaves and twigs.
What Tsintaosaurus Looked Like
One special thing about Tsintaosaurus was its head. It had a unique crest on its snout. Early ideas about this crest showed it standing straight up. But newer studies suggest it might have been shaped differently. It could have been more like a flat, paddle-shaped structure. This crest was made of bone. It might have been used for showing off to other dinosaurs. Or perhaps it helped them recognize each other.
Where Tsintaosaurus Lived
The fossils of Tsintaosaurus were found in China. This tells us that these dinosaurs roamed ancient Asia. The area where they lived was likely warm and had lots of plants. This would have been a good place for a plant-eating dinosaur.
Images for kids
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Left premaxilla, a bone from the front of the snout.
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A drawing showing how Tsintaosaurus might have looked with a new idea for its crest.
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A skeleton of Tsintaosaurus at a museum. This one shows an older idea of the crest.
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Another drawing showing a different way the skull crest might have looked.
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Left prefrontal, another bone from the skull.
See also
In Spanish: Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus para niños
