Shunosaurus Characteristics

Shunosaurus measured 40 feet (11 metres) in length and weighed around 19 tons. It is the only sauropod known that had a bony club at the end of its tail, formed by enlarged vertebrae. This small tail club had two small spines on it and was probably used for defence to swipe away predators. Shunosaurus was a quadrupedal dinosaur and walked on all 4 of its trunk-like legs. Its body was huge and bulky and it had a long neck, a long tail and a short deep skull. Its front and hind legs were similar in length, making its back relatively level with the ground.

Shunosaurus was a herbivore and ate plant material. It would have had to eat a huge amount to sustain its large size, although it was not as huge as other giants such as Argentinosaurus and Diplodocus.

Fossils of Shunosaurus include 20 skeletons (with 5 skulls) found in China. This large dinosaur was discovered in 1983 in the shuozhou area of China. All these near-complete skeletons, make it one of the best known sauropods.

Shunosaurus was named by Chinese paleontologists Dong, Zhou & Zhang in 1983.