Named By: | C. C. Young in 1959 |
Time Period: | 160 Ma |
Location: | China - Sichuan Province - Dashanpu/Upper Shaximiao Formation |
Size: | Up to 4 meters long |
Diet: | Herbivore |
Fossil(s): | Partial skeleton |
Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Dinosauria | Ornithischia | Thyreophora | Stegosauria | Stegosauridae | |
Chialingosaurus (meaning "Chialing Lizard") is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur similar to Kentrosaurus from the Upper Shaximiao Formation, Late Jurassic beds in Sichuan Province in China. Its age makes it one of the oldest species of stegosaurs, living about 160 million years ago. Since it was an herbivore, scientists think that Chialingosaurus probably ate ferns and cycads, which were plentiful during the period when Chialingosaurus was alive.