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Bellusaurus

Say it: BEL-uh-SORE-us

Name means: “beautiful lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Jurassic

Bellusaurus was a small, lightly built long-necked dinosaur that lived in China during the Late Jurassic. It is known from many young skeletons found together, which suggests it traveled in herds.1 2

Lived

159 to 158 million years ago4

Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Shishugou Formation, northeastern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, China1 3

Food

Plants2 3

Length

4.8 to 5 m1 2

based on juvenile specimens

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 5 dogs nose to tailas long as 28 bananas end to end

How big was Bellusaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Seventeen Bellusaurus skeletons were found in a single quarry, which scientists think means a whole herd died together in a flash flood.1

The known Bellusaurus fossils are all from young animals, maybe only about two years old, and they were still growing fast when they died.1

Bellusaurus was small and lightly built compared to many other sauropods, which is why its name means beautiful lizard.1

The species name sui honors Youling Sui, a dinosaur fossil restorer, and Bellusaurus was the last restoration he worked on.1

Scientists do not agree on exactly where Bellusaurus belongs in the dinosaur family tree. Some place it near the base of Macronaria, while a 2023 study suggests it was a mamenchisaurid.1

AI-made picture of Bellusaurus — An AI-made picture of how Bellusaurus 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 Bellusaurus

?How big was Bellusaurus?

About 4.8 metres (16 feet) long, but these are all young animals, so adults may have been larger.1 2

?What did Bellusaurus eat?

It was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants.2

?When did Bellusaurus live?

It lived during the Middle to Late Jurassic, about 166 to 159 million years ago.2

?Why is Bellusaurus called that?

Its name means 'beautiful lizard' in Latin and Greek, because it was small and lightly built.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Bellusaurus
Named by: Dong 19904
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Mamenchisauridae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda4
Age of the rocks: 159 to 158 million years ()4
Rock formations: Shishugou4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Bellusaurus was named by Chinese paleontologist Dong Zhiming in 1990. The fossils were found in the Shishugou Formation in China, and the type species is Bellusaurus sui.1 3
Still debated: Scientists debate whether Bellusaurus was a mamenchisaurid or a more primitive sauropod, because the known fossils are all from juveniles.1

Where the facts come from

Bellusaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Bellusaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Bellusaurus 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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