Saichania

Name:

Saichania (Chinese for "beautiful"); pronounced SIE-chan-EE-ah

Habitat:

Woodlands of Asia

Historical Period:

Late Cretaceous (80-70 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 20 feet long and one ton

Diet:

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Crescent-shaped armor on neck; thick forelimbs

About Saichania:

As ankylosaurs go, Saichania wasn't any better- or worse-looking than a dozen or so other genuses. It earned its name (Chinese for "beautiful") because of the pristine condition of its bones: paleontologists have found two complete skulls and one almost-complete skeleton, making Saichania one of the best-preserved armored dinosaurs in the fossil record.

This relatively evolved ankylosaur had a few distinctive features, including crescent-shaped armor plates around its neck, unusually thick forelimbs, and complicated nasal passages in its skull (which may be explained by the fact that Saichania lived in a very hot, dry climate and needed a way to retain moisture).