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Elmisaurus

Say it: el-MEE-sore-us

Name means: “foot sole lizard”1

Ate: A bit of everythingOdd feathered dinosLate Cretaceous

Elmisaurus was a small, bird-like dinosaur that lived in what is now Mongolia. It had long legs and a fused foot bone, just like birds have today.1 2

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia1 2

Food

A bit of everything4

Length

1.5 to 2.5 m1

estimated from fragmentary remains

Weight

10 kg to 20 kg1

Height

0.75 to 0.8 m3

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 5 house cats

as long as 2.5 dogs nose to tailas long as 14 bananas end to endas heavy as 4 watermelons

How big was Elmisaurus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Elmisaurus had a fused tarsometatarsus, meaning its ankle and foot bones were joined together like in modern birds.1 2

Its name comes from the Mongolian word 'elmyi' meaning 'foot sole', because the first fossil found was a foot bone.1

Elmisaurus lived about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1

Some scientists think Elmisaurus might be the same animal as Nomingia, another dinosaur from the same time and place.4 1

Elmisaurus was a caenagnathid, a group of dinosaurs that looked like birds and had toothless beaks.1

The first Elmisaurus fossils were found by a Polish-Mongolian expedition in 1970.1

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

?How big was Elmisaurus?

Elmisaurus was a small dinosaur, about the size of a turkey or a large bird. Scientists estimate it was around 1.5 to 2 metres long.1 3

?Did Elmisaurus have feathers?

Yes, Elmisaurus was a feathered dinosaur. It belonged to a group called oviraptorosaurs, which are known to have had feathers.1

?What did Elmisaurus eat?

Elmisaurus had a toothless beak, so it likely ate plants, small animals, or eggs. Scientists are not completely sure, but it was probably an omnivore.1

?When did Elmisaurus live?

Elmisaurus lived about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1

Ask Rex about Elmisaurus

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Myth buster

Myth: Elmisaurus was a bird because its foot bones were fused.

Truth: Elmisaurus was a dinosaur, not a bird. The fused foot bone is a feature that dinosaurs and birds share, but it does not make it a bird.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Elmisaurus
Named by: Osmolska 19814
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Caenagnathidae4
Classification: Theropoda > Oviraptorosauria4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Nemegt4
Countries: Mongolia4
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database4
Also known as: Nomingia (older names now counted as the same animal)4
Discovery: Elmisaurus was named by Polish paleontologist Halszka Osmólska in 1981, based on fossils found in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia in 1970.1 4
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Elmisaurus is the same as Nomingia, another dinosaur from the same area.1 4

Where the facts come from

Elmisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
COOSSIFIED TARSOMETATARSI IN THEROPOD DINOSAURS AND THEIR BEARING ON THE PROBLEM OF BIRD ORIGINS (palaeontologia.pan.pl)
New specimens of the crested theropod dinosaur Elmisaurus rarus from Mongolia (app.pan.pl)
Elmisaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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