Gigantspinosaurus

Filed under Jurassic dinosaurs · Types of Dinosaurs editorial team

Order: Ornithischia · Suborder: Thyreophora · Infraorder: Stegosauria · Family: Stegosauridae (family not firmly confirmed)

Gigantspinosaurus was a stegosaurian dinosaur that lived during the Late Jurassic period in what is now China. Measuring between 13 and 14 feet in length, this herbivore belonged to the diverse family of armored dinosaurs known as stegosaurs. The name Gigantspinosaurus—meaning "giant-spined lizard"—reflects its most distinctive feature: a pair of enormous shoulder spines that were significantly larger than those found on most of its relatives. These broad, blade-like structures projected outward and backward from each shoulder, likely serving functions related to defense or visual display during social interactions.

Like other stegosaurs, Gigantspinosaurus possessed rows of plates running along its back, though these were relatively modest in size compared to its striking shoulder spines. The animal moved on four legs and fed on low-growing vegetation, as befitted its herbivorous diet. A particularly important specimen of Gigantspinosaurus preserved impressions of the animal's skin, offering paleontologists rare and direct evidence of the surface texture and appearance of these armored plant-eaters from the Jurassic world.

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Reference background: Natural History Museum, London — Dinosaurs; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History — Dinosaurs; American Museum of Natural History — Dinosaurs & Fossils. Figures are typical published ranges; taxonomy follows the source era and modern consensus is noted where it differs. See our sources & fact-check policy.

Related dinosaurs

Other dinosaurs from the Stegosauridae family.