Dinosaurs - Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus
Scientific name: Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus
Click to enlarge image
Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus used the crest on its head to attract mates, and its large tail when swimming.
Image: James Reece
© Australian Museum
© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Tsintaosaurus
- Species
- spinorhinus
- Family
- Hadrosauridae
Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus may have congregated in herds along the shores of lakes, around 70 million years ago.
Identification
Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus had:
- a forward-pointing unicorn-like crest on its head which probably helped it to attract mates
- resonators in the tubular cavities inside its crest enabling it to produce distinctive mating calls
- a large tail to assist with swimming.
Fossils description
Tsintaosaurus was named after the city of Tsingtao in Shandong Province, where the fossil was found. The species name spinorhinus refers to the spine-like crest on its head.
Evolutionary relationships
Tsintaosaurus spinorhinos was an ornithopod duck-bill dinosaur or hadrosaur (family Hadrosauridae).
