Name:
Huayangosaurus (Greek for "Huayang lizard"); pronounced HWA-yang-oh-SORE-us
Habitat:
Woodlands of Asia
Historical Period:
Late Jurassic (165 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 12 feet long and 500 pounds
Diet:
Plants
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Long front legs; broad skull with primitive teeth
About Huayangosaurus:
Aside from its small size--only about 12 feet long and a few hundred pounds--the most notable fact about Huayangosaurus is when it lived: about 165 million years ago, a few million years before its Asian cousins Chialingosaurus and Chungkingosaurus (and 20 million years before the North American Stegosaurus). As such, Huayangosaurus is the most "basal" stegosaur yet known, with primitive features (such as a broad skull and teeth in the front of its mouth) that later stegosaurs shed. Of course, Huayangosaurus boasted that most characteristic of all stegosaur features: parallel lines of plates running up and down its back.
