Genus
Valid Extinct

Pinacosaurus

Gilmore 1933

Pinacosaurus is an extinct genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia and China during the Late Cretaceous. The genus contains two species; the type species, Pinacosaurus grangeri, was named in 1933 based on fossils found in 1923. A second species, Pinacosaurus hilwitnorum, was named in 2026. An additional species, originally placed in this genus, P. mephistocephalus, was later transferred to its own genus, Eopinacosaurus.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
25
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Pinacosaurus
click to enlarge
Phylogenetic position of Akainacephalus johnsoni in (A), a strict consensus of 21 equally most parsimonious trees, including the wildcard taxon Ahshislepelta minor, placing A. johnsoni within a large polytomy, consisting of crown group taxa that include Asian and all Laramidian ankylosaurids; and (B), the resulting strict consensus of six equally most phylogenetic trees, from which the wildcard taxon Ahshislepelta minor has been pruned. The crown group taxa are slightly better resolved in the pruned analysis, in which Akainacephalus johnsoni forms a clade with its sister taxon Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis, nested within the clade that also includes the Asian taxa Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani, Tarchia kilanae, and Shanxia tianzhenensis, suggesting a close taxonomic relationship with Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis and Asian taxa. © Jelle P. Wiersma​, Randall B. Irmis · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
Pinacosaurus
Pinacosaurus
Pinacosaurus
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Parapredentata Unranked clade
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Saphornithischia Unranked clade
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Prionodontia Unranked clade
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Genasauria Unranked clade
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Thyreophora Unranked clade
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Thyreophoroidea Superfamily
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Eurypoda Unranked clade
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Ankylosauria Unranked clade
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Euankylosauria Unranked clade
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Ankylosauridae Family
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Ankylosaurinae Subfamily
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Pinacosaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
3 m ⓘ
Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus — min connu
4,95 m ⓘ
Pinacosaurus grangeri — max connu
5 m ⓘ
Mass
1 300 kg ⓘ
Pinacosaurus grangeri — min connu
380 kg ⓘ
Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus — max connu
Fossil sites 25 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇲🇳 Mongolia
16
🇨🇳 China
9
Geological formations
Djadokhta
12
Bayan Mandahu
6
Baruungoyot
2
Öösh
1
Jiangjunding
1
Alagteeg
1
Wulansuhai
1
Temporal distribution
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
23
Coniacian (89.8–85.7 Ma)
1
Barremian (125.77–121.4 Ma)
1
Species (4)
Pinacosaurus grangeri 90 Ma
Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus 84 Ma
Pinacosaurus ninghsiensis subjective synonym of Pinacosaurus grangeri 90 Ma
Syrmosaurus viminocaudus subjective synonym of Pinacosaurus grangeri 90 Ma
Synonyms (1)
Syrmosaurus subjective synonym of Pinacosaurus
Images 4
Bibliography
Original description
C. W. Gilmore. 1933. Two new dinosaurian reptiles from Mongolia with notes on some fragmentary specimens. American Museum Novitates 679:1-20
Bibliography (20)
G. Botfalvai, E. Prondvai, and A. Ösi. 2021. Living alone or moving in herds? A holistic approach highlights complexity in the social lifestyle of Cretaceous ankylosaurs. Cretaceous Research 118:104633 DOI ↗
S. Ji, L. Zhang, and L. Lu, J. Hao. 2017. The first discovery of the Late Cretaceous protoceratopsid fauna from Alxa, Inner Mongolia, China. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 91(5):1908-1909 DOI ↗
V. M. Arbour and P. J. Currie. 2016. Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 14(5):385-444 DOI ↗
R. V. Hill, M. D. D'Emic, and G. S. Bever, M. A. Norell. 2015. A complex hyobranchial apparatus in a Cretaceous dinosaur and the antiquity of avian paraglossalia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 175(4):892-909 DOI ↗
L. M. Chiappe, S. Suzuki, and G. J. Dyke, M. Watabe, K. Tsogtbaatar, R. Barsbold. 2007. A new enantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 5(2):193-208 DOI ↗
M. Watabe and K. Tsogtbaatar. 2004. Report on the Japan–Mongolia Joint Paleontological Expedition to the Gobi desert, 2000. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 2:45-67
R. V. Hill, L. M. Witmer, and M. A. Norell. 2003. A new specimen of Pinacosaurus grangeri (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia: ontogeny and phylogeny of ankylosaurs. American Museum Novitates 3395:1-29 DOI ↗
S. Suzuki and M. Watabe. 2000. Report on the Japan–Mongolia Joint Paleontological Expedition to the Gobi desert, 1998. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 1:83-98
W. Watabe and S. Suzuki. 2000. Report on the Japan–Mongolia Joint Paleontological Expedition to the Gobi desert, 1994. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 1:30-44
M. Watabe and S. Suzuki. 2000. Report on the Japan–Mongolia Joint Paleontological Expedition to the Gobi desert, 1997. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 1:69-82
P. Godefroit, X. Pereda-Suberbiola, and H. Li, Z. Dong. 1999. A new species of the ankylosaurid dinosaur Pinacosaurus from the Late Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia (P.R. China). Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre 69(supplement):17-366
E. Buffetaut. 1995. An ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Shandong (China). Geological Magazine 132(6):683-692 DOI ↗
T. A. Tumanova. 1987. Pantsirnyye dinozavry Mongolii [The armored dinosaurs of Mongolia]. Trudy Sovmestnaya Sovetsko-Mongol'skaya Paleontologicheskaya Ekspeditsiya 32:1-80
R. Gradzinski, Z. Kielan-Jaworowska, and T. Maryanska. 1977. Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta, Barun Goyot and Nemegt formations of Mongolia, including remarks on previous subdivisions. Acta Geologica Polonica 27(3):281-318
T. Maryanska. 1971. New data on the skull of Pinacosaurus grangeri (Ankylosauria). Palaeontologia Polonica 25:45-53
Z. Kielan-Jaworowska and K. Kowalski. 1965. Polish-Mongolian Palaeontological Expeditions to the Gobi Desert in 1963 and 1964. Bulletin de l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences, Cl. II 13(3):175-179
E. A. Maleev. 1954. Pantsyrnye dinosavry verchnego mela Mongolii (Semeustvo Syrmosauridae) [The Upper Cretaceous armored dinosaurs of Mongolia (family Syrmosauridae)]. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta Akademiy Nauk SSSR 48:142-170
E. A. Maleev. 1952. Novoe semeystvo pantsirnich dinosavrov is verchnego mela Mongolii [A new family of armored dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia]. Doklady Akademii Nauk SSSR 87(1):131-134
C.-C. Young. 1935. On a new nodosaurid from Ninghsia. Palaeontologia Sinica, Series C 11(1):1-28
C. W. Gilmore. 1933. Two new dinosaurian reptiles from Mongolia with notes on some fragmentary specimens. American Museum Novitates 679:1-20