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Erliansaurus

Say it: UR-lee-an-SORE-us

Name means: “Erlian lizard”1

Ate: PlantsOdd feathered dinosLate Cretaceous

Erliansaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur with giant claws on its hands. It lived in what is now Inner Mongolia, China, about 85 to 68 million years ago. Even though it looked a bit like a giant sloth, it was actually a type of theropod dinosaur, related to T. rex!1 2

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago2

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Near Sanhangobi, Inner Mongolia, China (Iren Dabasu Formation)1 2

Food

Plants1 2

Length

2.6 to 4 m1

for a subadult specimen

Weight

91 kg to 400 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 13 big dogs

as long as 4 dogs nose to tailas long as 22 bananas end to endas heavy as 80 watermelons

How big was Erliansaurus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Erliansaurus had very long and sharp claws on its hands, and the thumb claw was the biggest of all.1

Its left arm is almost complete and beautifully preserved, which is why its species name means 'beautiful hand'.1

No skull bones of Erliansaurus have ever been found, so we don't know exactly what its head looked like.1

Erliansaurus lived at the same time and place as another therizinosaur called Neimongosaurus.1

Its thigh bone (femur) is very straight and about 41 centimeters (16 inches) long.1

Erliansaurus was a therizinosaur, a group of dinosaurs that looked like they had potbellies, long necks, and huge claws.1

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

?How big was Erliansaurus?

It was a small to medium sized dinosaur, about 2.6 to 4 metres (8.5 to 13.1 feet) long and weighed 91 to 400 kilograms (201 to 882 pounds).1

?What did Erliansaurus eat?

Erliansaurus was a plant-eater, or herbivore.1

?Did Erliansaurus have feathers?

Yes, Erliansaurus was a theropod dinosaur, and many theropods, especially close relatives like therizinosaurs, are thought to have had feathers.1

?When did Erliansaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 85 to 68 million years ago.1

?Why is Erliansaurus called 'beautiful hand'?

Its species name, bellamanus, means 'beautiful hand' in Latin because its left arm and claws are so well preserved.1

?Was Erliansaurus bigger than Neimongosaurus?

Scientists think it might have been, because the only Erliansaurus fossil found is from a young animal that was not fully grown, so adults could have been larger than Neimongosaurus.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Erliansaurus
Named by: Xu et al. 20022
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Therizinosauridae2
Classification: Theropoda > Therizinosauria2
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)2
Rock formations: Iren Dabasu2
Countries: China2
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Erliansaurus was discovered in 1999 near Sanhangobi in Inner Mongolia. A team of scientists led by Xu Xing named it in 2002, and the name comes from the town of Erlian.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether Erliansaurus is a primitive or a more advanced therizinosaur. Different studies place it in different parts of the family tree.1

Where the facts come from

Erliansaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Erliansaurus 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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