Dino Wiki / All dinos / Meat-eating dinos

Dino card No. 0401 of 2,027

Chilantaisaurus

Say it: chih-LAN-tih-SORE-us

Name means: “Jilantai Salt Lake lizard”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosLate Cretaceous

Chilantaisaurus was a huge meat-eating dinosaur that stomped around China during the Late Cretaceous. It was as long as a school bus and had powerful arms with big claws. Scientists think it was one of the biggest hunters of its time.1

Lived

94 to 84 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Inner Mongolia, China, in the Ulansuhai Formation1

Food

Meat3 1

Length

11 m1

estimate

Weight

2.5 tonnes to 4 tonnes1

Height

3.5 m2

at the hips

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 hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2.5 cars

as long as 2.5 cars parked in a rowas long as 61 bananas end to endas heavy as 130 big dogsas heavy as 800 watermelonsas tall as 2 doors stacked up

How big was Chilantaisaurus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Chilantaisaurus had one of the largest upper arm bones of any meat-eating dinosaur, measuring 58 centimetres (23 inches) long.1

Its arms were long compared to its legs, similar to spinosaurids like Suchomimus, but different from other big predators.1

The first fossils were found in 1960 by a joint Sino-Soviet expedition, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Jilantai Salt Lake.1

Scientists are not sure exactly how old the rocks are, but they are definitely younger than 92 million years, and maybe from the Santonian or Campanian stages.1

Some bones once thought to belong to Chilantaisaurus were later shown to be from other dinosaurs, like a tooth from a theropod and a vertebra from a sauropod.1

A species called Chilantaisaurus zheziangensis is now thought to be a therizinosaur, a different kind of dinosaur with long claws.1 3

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

?How big was Chilantaisaurus?

Chilantaisaurus was about 11 metres (36 ft) long and weighed between 2.5 and 4 metric tons (2.8 to 4.4 short tons). That is about as long as a school bus.1

?Was Chilantaisaurus bigger than T. rex?

Chilantaisaurus was about the same size as Tyrannosaurus. It was around 11 metres (36 ft) long and weighed up to 4 metric tons, while T. rex was similar in length but often heavier.1

?What did Chilantaisaurus eat?

Chilantaisaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur, so it hunted other animals. Its big claws and powerful arms helped it catch prey.1

?Did Chilantaisaurus have feathers?

Nobody knows for sure. No feathers have been found with Chilantaisaurus fossils, but many theropods were feathered.1

?When did Chilantaisaurus live?

Chilantaisaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, probably between 85.7 and 72.2 million years ago. But scientists are not completely sure of the exact date.1

?Where was Chilantaisaurus found?

Chilantaisaurus fossils were found in Inner Mongolia, China, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Jilantai Salt Lake. They were discovered in 1960 by a joint Sino-Soviet expedition.1

Ask Rex about Chilantaisaurus

Rex only answers questions about this page. 10 questions a month.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

Myth buster

Myth: Chilantaisaurus is sometimes thought to be a close relative of Tyrannosaurus because it was big and had strong arms.

Truth: Scientists think it was more closely related to other allosauroids, like Neovenator, not to Tyrannosaurus.1 3

For dino experts

Scientific name: Chilantaisaurus
Named by: Hu 19643
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Neovenatoridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Allosauroidea3
Age of the rocks: 94 to 84 million years (Turonian / Santonian)3
Rock formations: Tangshang, Ulansuhai3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Chinese paleontologist Hu Show-Yung named Chilantaisaurus in 1964 after fossils were found in Inner Mongolia. The bones were fragmentary, including arm and leg parts, and were cataloged as IVPP V.2884.1.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate how Chilantaisaurus is related to other dinosaurs, with some thinking it was a carcharodontosaur and others a megaraptoran.1

Where the facts come from

Chilantaisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Chilantaisaurus | Part of the Theropod Family of Dinosaurs (dinosaurmadness.com)
Chilantaisaurus 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex