Chinese scientist Xing Xu and his colleagues indicate that Shantungosaurus is very similar to and shares many unique characters with Edmontosaurus, forming an Asian node of an Edmontosaurus–Shantungosaurus clade, based on the new materials recovered in Shandong.
Kineski znanstvenik Xing Xu i njegove kolege ukazuju na to da je Shantungosaurus vrlo sličan Edmontosaurusu, s kojim ima i brojne jedinstvene zajedničke osobine i tvori azijski ogranak kladusa Edmontosaurus–Shantungosaurus, koji se temelji na novim ostacima pronađenim u Shandongu.