Tsintaosaurus

Tsintaosaurus (; meaning "Qingdao lizard", after the old transliteration "Tsingtao") is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from China. It was about long and weighed . The type species is Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus, first described by Chinese paleontologist C. C. Young in 1958. As a hadrosaur, Tsintaosaurus had the characteristic 'duck bill' snout and a battery of powerful teeth which it used to chew vegetation. It usually walked on all fours, but could rear up on its hind legs to scout for predators and flee when it spotted one. Like other hadrosaurs, Tsintaosaurus probably lived and traveled in herds. Discovery and naming In 1950, at Hsikou, near Chingkangkou, in Laiyang, Shandong, in the eastern part of China, various remains of large hadrosaurids were uncovered. In 1958 these were described by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian ("C.C. Young") as the type species Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus. The generic name is derived from the city of Qingdao, earlier often transliterated as "Tsintao". The specific name means "with a nose spine", from Latin spina, and Greek ῥίς, rhis, "nose", in reference to the distinctive crest on the snout. The holotype, IVPP AS V725, was discovered in a layer of the Jingangkou Formation, part of the Wangshi Group dating from the Campanian. It consists of a partial skeleton with skull. The paratype is specimen IVPP V818, a skull roof. In the same area some additional partial skeletons and a large number of disarticulated skeletal elements were found. Some of these were by Yang referred to Tsintaosaurus, others were named as a Tanius chingkankouensis Yang 1958; also a Tanius laiyangensis Zhen 1976 exists. The latter two species are today either considered junior synonyms or nomina dubia. Later researchers would refer a larger part of the material to Tsintaosaurus.