Datanglong

Say it: dah-TAHNG-long

Name means: “Datang dragon, after the Datang Basin in Guangxi, China”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosEarly Cretaceous

Datanglong was a big meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now southern China. It was about as long as a school bus and used its sharp teeth to hunt other animals.4 2

Lived

121 to 113 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Nazao village, Datang Basin, Guangxi, China2

Food

Meat4

Length

8 to 9 m2

estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 2 cars parked in a rowas long as 50 bananas end to end

How big was Datanglong compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Datanglong is known from only one partial skeleton, including parts of the backbone and hip bones.2

It lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 121 to 113 million years ago.2

Datanglong belongs to a group of large theropods called carcharodontosaurs, which includes some of the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs ever.1

Its fossils were found in the Xinlong Formation, which is made of rocks that were once a river or lake environment.2

Scientists think Datanglong was a primitive member of the carcharodontosaurs, meaning it had some features that were not as advanced as later relatives.1

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

?How big was Datanglong?

Datanglong was about 8 to 9 metres long, roughly the length of a school bus.3 4

?What did Datanglong eat?

Datanglong was a meat-eater, or carnivore, that hunted other animals with its sharp teeth.4

?When did Datanglong live?

Datanglong lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 121 to 113 million years ago.3 4

?Where was Datanglong found?

Its fossils were found in the Xinlong Formation in Guangxi, southern China, near the town of Datang.3 1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Datanglong
Named by: Mo et al. 20144
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Carcharodontosauria4
Classification: Theropoda > Allosauroidea4
Age of the rocks: 121 to 113 million years (Aptian)4
Rock formations: Xinlong4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Datanglong was named in 2014 by paleontologist Mo Jinyou and his team. The only fossil was found near Nazao village in the Datang Basin of Guangxi, China.4 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Datanglong grew, because only a partial skeleton has been found. The length estimate of 8 to 9 metres is based on comparisons with other carcharodontosaurs.2

Where the facts come from

A New Carcharodontosauria (Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Guangxi, Southern China (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Datanglong (en.wikipedia.org)
Datanglong 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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