Huabeisaurus

Huabeisaurus was a large sauropod dinosaur that lived in northern China during the Late Cretaceous epoch. The type specimen is a relatively complete disarticulated skeleton comprising teeth, cervical, dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebrae, alongside limb elements and pelvic bones. At an estimated 18 to 20 metres long, Huabeisaurus was a robust quadruped built for endurance rather than speed. Its teeth are slender and spoon-like, well suited for stripping leaves and soft branches from Cretaceous flora. When originally described, it was placed into a unique family, Huabeisauridae, but modern cladistic analyses classify it firmly within Euhelopodidae. Its presence in Late Cretaceous strata demonstrates that euhelopodid sauropods survived much longer in East Asia than was previously thought, coexisting with diverse hadrosaurs and ankylosaurs.

Originally assigned to its own family, it is now recognised as a late-surviving euhelopodid.

Where and when

Huabeisaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 99 to 83.6 million years ago (Cenomanian-Santonian age). Its remains come from China, in the Huiquanpu Formation.

The numbers

Length 19 m (estimates run from 18 to 20 m). Mass about 18 t. Hip height about 4.5 m. That is 11.2 human-lengths, or 1.7 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.

Compare Huabeisaurus with a bus Place on the timeline