Dinosaur genus
Shunosaurus
Shunosaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 174.7–154.8 million years old, in China.
Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.
At a glance
Data as of 10 October 2026- Named by
- Dong et al. 1983
high
high: PBDB and Wikidata agree.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Described in
- Z. Dong, S. Zhou, H. Zhang (1983). [Dinosaurs from the Jurassic of Sichuan]. Palaeontologica Sinica, New Series C, Whole Number 162(23): 1–136.
high
high: PBDB gives this publication for the name; its author and year match the naming authority (Dong et al. 1983), on which PBDB and Wikidata agree.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.
- Type species
- Shunosaurus lii
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Lived
- Aalenian to Oxfordian, 174.7–154.8 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Omnisaura calculation174.7–154.8 million years ago, from its dated fossil recordsmedium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 5 confirmed PBDB records.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Fossils found in
- China
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (5 records).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
- Rock formations
- Shaximiao
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (5 records).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
- Parent group
- Eusauropoda
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Named after
- Sichuan
medium
medium: Only Wikidata gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Wikidata. How it was chosen: Wikidata leads.
- Species named in its records
- Shunosaurus lii
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
- Diet
- herbivore (inferred for its group)
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this, and it infers it for the whole of Sauropoda, the group this genus belongs to, not from this genus's own fossils.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
- Way of life
- ground dwelling, gregarious (inferred for its group)
low
low: PBDB infers this way of life for the whole of Sauropoda; behaviour is rarely known for one genus.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
- Known from
- Bones
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).
Gaps are answers
What isn't known yet
- Order: no source we use gives it yet.
- Family: no source we use gives it yet.
- Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
- Resting on one source: 5 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): type species (PBDB); parent group (PBDB); age (headline) (PBDB); named after (Wikidata); diet (PBDB).
Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.
Where sources disagree
None open. Where our sources overlap, they agree on everything shown here.
Did it meet…?
No. Shunosaurus had gone at least 71.2 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record, a longer gap than the 66 million years between Tyrannosaurus and today.
Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.
Connections
Genera linked to Shunosaurus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.
Same rocks, same time 15
Genera found in the same rock units, from rocks of overlapping age, the most shared fossil sites first.
Same parent group: Eusauropoda 4
Other genera in Eusauropoda with a full profile.
Named by Dong 10
Genera whose naming authority includes the same surname. The authority has no initials, so different people who share a surname can appear together.
Found in China 35
Other genera found in China, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.
Credits
Where this page comes from
- Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
- WikidataCC0 1.0 · names and identifiers
- OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
- PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
- Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines
Pictures linked from this page are credited beside each one, with their own licences; the full list is in the JSON download.