Saichania Saichania

Saichania (Mongolian meaning “beautiful one”) is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Mongolia and China. The first fossils of Saichania were found in the early 1970s in the Baruungoyot Formation. In 1977, the type species Saichania chulsanensis was named.

Saichania is more robustly built than other members of the Ankylosauridae, measuring 5 – 7 m in length and 1.4 – 2.0 MT in body mass. Neck vertebrae, the shoulder girdle, and ribs were fused or firmly connected. Its body is flat and low-slung, standing on four short legs. The forelimbs were very powerful. The head was protected by bulbous armour tiles. It could defend itself against predators like Tarbosaurus with a tail club. On the torso, keeled osteoderms were present. Saichania bit off plants in its desert habitat with a horny beak and processed them in its wide hindgut.