Shandongosaurus is a hadrosaur and the largest ornithopod discovered to date. These dinosaurs lived during the Late Cretaceous period, 78-74 million years ago, in what is now China. Their skulls were over 1.6 meters long.
Some scientists believe that the size of the Shandong dragon is overestimated, and that it may only weigh 13 tons—even so, it would still be the largest hadrosaur in the world.
Because of their flat noses, hadrosaurs were also known as hadrosaurs. Although they had no teeth at the front of their mouths, the back of their jaws was filled with thousands of tiny teeth. Some members of this group had large crests on their heads, which may have been used for vocalization.
A comparison of Shandongosaurus (red) with other large ornithopod dinosaurs, including Magnabula (yellow), Edmontosaurus (brown), Sauropoda (blue), Hypsibema (orange), Salamander (purple), and Iguanodon (green).
