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Beibeilong

Say it: BAY-bay-long

Name means: “baby dragon from China”1

Ate: A bit of everythingOdd feathered dinosLate Cretaceous

Beibeilong was a huge, feathered dinosaur that looked a bit like a giant bird. It is known from a baby skeleton found lying on top of its nest, so scientists call it 'Baby Louie'.1

Lived

100 to 90 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Henan Province, central China1

Food

A bit of everything5

Length

7.5 m2

Weight

1.5 tonnes to 2 tonnes2

Height

3.5 m3

at the hip

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hip

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 1.5 cars

as long as 8 dogs nose to tailas long as 42 bananas end to endas heavy as 67 big dogsas heavy as 400 watermelonsas tall as 2 doors stacked up

How big was Beibeilong compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Beibeilong laid the largest known dinosaur eggs, each over 40 centimeters long.1

The baby skeleton is only 23 centimeters long, but it was probably an embryo that had just hatched.1

Its name means 'baby dragon' in Chinese, because the fossil was nicknamed 'Baby Louie'.1

Beibeilong is the first caenagnathid dinosaur known from both eggs and bones together.1

The eggs were so big that the baby would have fit inside with room to spare, taking up only about two-thirds of the egg's volume.1

AI-made picture of Beibeilong — An AI-made picture of how Beibeilong might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Beibeilong

?Was Beibeilong a dinosaur?

Yes, Beibeilong was a type of dinosaur called a caenagnathid, which is part of the oviraptorosaur group. It lived in China during the Late Cretaceous period, about 96 to 88 million years ago.2

?How big was Beibeilong?

Beibeilong was a huge dinosaur, about 7.5 metres long and weighed around 1.5 to 2 metric tons. That is as big as some of the largest oviraptorosaurs.2 1

?What did Beibeilong eat?

Beibeilong had a toothless beak like a bird, so it probably ate plants and small animals. Scientists think it used its beak to bite and crush food.2

?Did Beibeilong have feathers?

Yes, Beibeilong was a feathered dinosaur. It looked a bit like a giant bird, with feathers covering its body.4

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Beibeilong was a bird because it had feathers and a beak.

Truth: Beibeilong was a dinosaur, not a bird, even though it is closely related to birds.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Beibeilong
Named by: Pu et al. 20175
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Caenagnathidae5
Classification: Theropoda > Oviraptorosauria5
Age of the rocks: 100 to 90 million years (Cenomanian / Turonian)5
Rock formations: Gaogou5
Countries: China5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: The fossil was found in China, but it was illegally taken out of the country. It was brought back, and scientists named it Beibeilong sinensis in 2017.1
Still debated: Scientists are still not sure exactly how big an adult Beibeilong was, because only a baby skeleton has been found.1

Where the facts come from

Perinate and eggs of a giant caenagnathid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of central China | Nature Communications (nature.com)
Beibeilong (en.wikipedia.org)
Smuggled dino eggs gave birth to ‘baby dragons' (science.org)
'Baby Dragon' Dinosaur Found Inside Giant Egg | National Geographic (nationalgeographic.com)
Beibeilong in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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