Aorun
Aorun was a tiny, meat-eating dinosaur that lived about 161 million years ago. It was only about 1 meter (3.3 feet) long and weighed as much as a small cat. Scientists think it was a baby, less than one year old, when it died.12
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Fun facts
Aorun is one of the oldest known coelurosaur dinosaurs, a group that includes birds and their closest relatives.12
The only fossil of Aorun was discovered in 2006 by a team of scientists from the USA and China. They first spotted a leg bone sticking out of the ground, and when they dug it up, they found the skull underneath.12
Aorun had between 25 and 30 teeth in its lower jaw, but only 12 in its upper jaw. Scientists think this is because it was a baby, and adults would have had more teeth.1
Aorun lived in a warm, seasonal dry environment alongside many other dinosaurs, including the long-necked sauropod Mamenchisaurus and the horned dinosaur Yinlong.1
Most asked questions about Aorun
?What did Aorun eat?
Aorun was a meat-eater that probably ate small lizards, mammals, and crocodile relatives. Its small, numerous teeth were good for catching such prey.2
?How big was Aorun?
The only known Aorun fossil was about 1 metre (3.3 feet) long and weighed about 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds). But it was a baby less than one year old, so adults might have been bigger.1
?When did Aorun live?
Aorun lived about 161 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic Period. That makes it one of the oldest known coelurosaur dinosaurs.1
?Is Aorun a dinosaur?
Yes, Aorun is a dinosaur. It is a carnivorous theropod dinosaur, a group that includes meat-eaters like T. rex and the ancestors of birds.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Aorun
- Named by
- Choiniere et al. 20133
- Group
- Meat-eating dinos
- Family / clade
- Alvarezsauria3
- Classification
- Theropoda3
- Age of the rocks
- 165 to 162 million years (Callovian)3
- Rock formations
- Shishugou3
- Countries
- China3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Aorun was discovered in 2006 by a team led by Jonah Choiniere and James Clark during a Sino-American expedition in Xinjiang, China. It was officially named and described in 2013.12
- Still debated
- Some scientists think Aorun might be a carnosaur instead of a coelurosaur, but most agree it is a very early coelurosaur.1
Where the facts come from
- Aorun (en.wikipedia.org)
- Sino-American Expedition Produced a New Juvenile Coelurosaurian Theropod in Xinjiang, China----Chinese Academy of Sciences (english.cas.cn)
- Aorun in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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