Aerosteon
Aerosteon was a big, meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina. It had hollow bones filled with air, just like birds have today. This helped it breathe in a special way and made its skeleton lighter.2
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Fun facts
Aerosteon had air sacs inside its bones, like modern birds. These air sacs helped it breathe more efficiently.2
Its furcula (wishbone) and ilium (hip bone) were hollowed out by air sacs. In birds, these bones are connected to air sacs that help pump air through the lungs.2
Aerosteon lived about 84 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.2
The first fossils of Aerosteon were found in 1996, but the dinosaur was not named until 2008.1
Aerosteon was a megaraptoran, a group of predatory dinosaurs that were common in South America.3
Its name means 'air bone' because of the many air-filled spaces in its skeleton.1
Most asked questions about Aerosteon
?How big was Aerosteon?
Scientists disagree on its size. Early estimates said 9 to 10 metres (30 to 33 ft) long, but later estimates range from 6 metres (20 ft) to 7.5 metres (25 ft) and weigh about 500 kg to 1 metric ton.1
?Did Aerosteon have feathers?
No fossil feathers have been found with Aerosteon, so nobody knows for sure. It was a megaraptoran dinosaur, and some close relatives may have had simple feathers, but there is no direct evidence.1
?What did Aerosteon eat?
Aerosteon was a meat-eater. It ate other animals, though no one knows exactly which ones.1
?Could Aerosteon fly?
No, Aerosteon could not fly. It was a large, two-legged dinosaur that walked on the ground.1
?When did Aerosteon live?
Aerosteon lived about 84 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.12
?Why is Aerosteon called air bone?
Its name means 'air bone' because its skeleton had many air-filled spaces, like the hollow bones of modern birds.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Aerosteon
- Named by
- Sereno et al. 20083
- Group
- Other meat-eaters
- Family / clade
- Megaraptoridae3
- Classification
- Theropoda > Megaraptora3
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
- Rock formations
- Anacleto3
- Countries
- Argentina3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Aerosteon was named by paleontologist Paul Sereno and his team in 2008. The fossils were found in the Anacleto Formation in Argentina, near the Rio Colorado river.31
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure exactly where Aerosteon fits on the dinosaur family tree. Some think it is a megaraptoran, while others link it to allosauroids from the Jurassic.2
Where the facts come from
- Aerosteon (en.wikipedia.org)
- Evidence for Avian Intrathoracic Air Sacs in a New Predatory Dinosaur from Argentina (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Aerosteon in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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