Chinese Dinosaurs - Huayangosaurus taibaii

Huayangosaurus taibaii

Artist: James Reece

Huayangosaurus taibaii was a small to medium-sized plant-eating stegosaur with primitive characteristics which lived around 180 million years ago.

Huayangosaurus taibaii had:

long forelimbs and a beak with teeth (lost in later stegosaurs);
a 'second brain' in the spinal cord in the hip area to help control its hind legs and tail;
vein-like cavities in the bony plates on its back which may have helped to regulate its body temperature or change the colour of the plates to deter predators or attract mates.

Huayangosaurus taibaii was discovered in Hua Yang, now known as Sichuan. Taibaii comes from the poet Tai Bai who lived in Sichuan.

Huayangosaurus taibaii was a primitive stegosaur. Among stegosaurs, it is unique and placed in its own family, the Huayangosauridae.