Datousaurus bashanensis
"chieftain lizard"
- Length
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Period
- Middle Jurassic (166–162 Mya)
- Place
- China
- Food
- Carnivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Datousaurus (meaning “chieftain lizard” or “big-head lizard”; originally named using the Malay datu, after its Chinese nickname qiulong - literally “chieftain dragon” - but also a pun on its big head; da tou means “big head” in Chinese) is a sauropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Lower Shaximiao Formation in Sichuan province, China. It shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with other sauropods such as Shunosaurus, Omeisaurus, and Protognathosaurus, the neornithischian Xiaosaurus, and the early stegosaur Huayangosaurus as well as the carnivorous Gasosaurus.
What we know
- Named by Dong & Tang, 1984.
- Fossils found in China.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Datousaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.