Saichania

beautiful one

• saichan · Mongolian · beautiful
• -ia · Latin · Latinised suffix forming a genus name

Saichania comes from the Mongolian word "saikhan", meaning "beautiful", and was given by Teresa Maryańska in 1977. It is a Mongolian-language name, which fits the Gobi Desert where the fossils were found. It refers to the well-preserved, handsome skeleton of this armoured ankylosaurid.

Named by

Maryańska

Year named

1977

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Campanian

Found in

Barun Goyot Formation, Ömnögovi Province, Mongolia (Gobi Desert)

An ankylosaurid (armoured dinosaur). The type species is Saichania chulsanensis. The exact spelling of the Mongolian root is transliterated variously (saikhan/saichan).