In Depth
As stegosaurs go Chungkingosaurus was towards the smaller end of the scale at four meters long. The hips and humerus (upper arm bone) of Chungkingosaurus seem to be quite primitive when compared to other stegosaurs. The skull is also deep which might be a relict primitive trait, or an adaptation for supporting stronger muscles for eating tougher vegetation. The plates of Chungkingosaurus that run down the back and tail are arranged in plates rather than in an alternating pattern, as has been proposed for the more famous Stegosaurus. Unfortunately however the total number of plates is still unknown. Like with many other stegosaurs, the thagomizer on the end of the tail was composed of two pairs of spikes that pointed out to the sides.
Hailing from China there is sometimes confusion regarding which fossil bearing Formation Chungkingosaurus comes from. Chungkingosaurus is known from the Dashanpu Formation, but this actually covers four other formations. These are the Upper Shaximiao, Lower Shaximiao, Zhenchuchong and Ziliujing Formations, and of these Chungkingosaurus is currently only known from the Upper Shaximiao. Other stegosaurs from the Upper Shaximiao Formation that Chungkingosaurus may have come shared its habitat with include Chialingosaurus, Gigantspinosaurus and Tuojiangosaurus. As a huayangosaurid stegosaur, Chungkingosaurus was closely related to the Huayangosaurus from the Lower Shaximiao.
Chungkingosaurus also shared its habitat with larger sauropod dinosaurs such as Mamenchisaurus, and may have had to defend itself against predatory dinosaurs such as Sinraptor, Leshansaurus and Yangchuanosaurus.
Further Reading
– [Dinosaurs from the Jurassic of Sichuan]. – Palaeontologica Sinica, New Series C, Whole Number 162(23):1-136. – Z. Dong, S. Zhou & H. Zhang – 1983. – A review of the Late Jurassic stegosaurs (Dinosauria, Stegosauria) from the People’s Republic of China. – Geological Magazine 143(5): 621-634. – S. C. R. Maidment & G. Wei – 2006.
