biology

Heishansaurus

Heishansaurus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Heishansaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Heishansaurus, meaning "Heishan lizard" after the area in China where it was discovered, is the name given to a dubious genus of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur, probably belonging to the Ankylosauridae. In 1930, Swedish palaeontologist Anders Birger Bohlin discovered dinosaur fossils, in the context of the Swedish-Chinese expeditions headed by Sven Hedin, near Jiayuguan ("Chia-Yu-Kuan"), in the west of Gansu Pro…

Key takeaways

Heishansaurus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Heishansaurus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Heishansaurus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Heishansaurus, meaning "Heishan lizard" after the area in China where it was discovered, is the name given to a dubious genus of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur, probably belonging to the Ankylosauridae. In 1930, Swedish palaeontologist Anders Birger Bohlin discovered dinosaur fossils, in the context of the Swedish-Chinese expeditions headed by Sven Hedin, near Jiayuguan ("Chia-Yu-Kuan"), in the west of Gansu Province. In 1953, Bohlin named these as the type species Heishansaurus pachycephalus. The generic name refers to the Heishan, the "Black Mountains". The specific name pachycephalus, meaning "thick-headed", was inspired by Bohlin's identification of the taxon as a pachycephalosaur. Today this dinosaur is more probably considered an ankylosaur. The fossils, from the Minhe Formation dating from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian or Maastrichtian stage), were fragmentary. The type is the only known specimen. The material consisted of poorly preserved cranial and postcranial fragments plus some dermal scutes. It contained skull fragments including a maxilla, teeth, vertebrae from the neck, back and tail, osteoderms and spikes. Today, the specimen is lost. Of one dorsal vertebra a cast remains, preserved in the American Museum of Natural History with the inventory number AMNH 2062. Bohlin considered the species to be a member of the pachycephalosaurians because he mistook an osteoderm for the thick skull roof typical of this group. The material is probably ankylosaurid. It has been seen as a junior synonym of Pinacosaurus but the genus is more generally considered a nomen dubium, especially since Bohlin's description can only be checked by comparison with his published drawings.

Notes

References Fossil reptiles from Mongolia and Kansu. Bohlin, B. Report of the Scientific Expedition to northwest China, Publ. 37 (6); 1-105 (1953). A taxonomic review of the Pachycephalosauridae (Dinosauria: Ornithischia). Sullivan, R. Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the Western Interior. Lucas et al. (eds), New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35; 347-365 (2006).

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Heishansaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Heishansaurus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Heishansaurus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Heishansaurus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Heishansaurus

In research: Heishansaurus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Heishansaurus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Heishansaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ankylosauria, Campanian dinosaurs, Dinosaur genera, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Heishansaurus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Heishansaurus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Heishansaurus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Heishansaurus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Heishansaurus in simple terms?

Why does Heishansaurus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Heishansaurus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Heishansaurus.