Eshanosaurus

Say it: ESH-ah-no-SORE-us

Name means: “Eshan lizard”1

Ate: PlantsOdd feathered dinosEarly Jurassic

Eshanosaurus was an early relative of the strange, long-clawed therizinosaurs. It lived about 200 million years ago in what is now China. Only a piece of its lower jaw has been found, so scientists are still debating what it really was.1

Lived

201 to 200 million years ago4

Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

Eshan, Yunnan, China1 4

Food

Plants4 1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Eshanosaurus is known only from a partial left lower jaw and some teeth.1

If Eshanosaurus is a therizinosaur, it would be the oldest known coelurosaur, living about 60 million years before other early therizinosaurs like Falcarius.1 2

The name Eshanosaurus means 'Eshan lizard,' after the region in China where it was found.1

Its species name, deguchiianus, honors Hikaru Deguchi, who encouraged the scientist Xu Xing to study dinosaurs.1

Eshanosaurus lived during the Early Jurassic Period, between about 201 and 199 million years ago.4

Some scientists think Eshanosaurus might actually be a prosauropod (a long-necked plant-eater) rather than a therizinosaur.1

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

?Is Eshanosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, Eshanosaurus is a dinosaur. It is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Period.1

?How big was Eshanosaurus?

Nobody knows for sure because only a partial lower jaw has been found. It was a small therizinosauroid, but its exact size is unknown.1 3

?What did Eshanosaurus eat?

Scientists are not certain, but if it is a therizinosaur it may have been a plant-eater. However, its teeth are more like those of meat-eating theropods, so its diet is debated.1 3

?When did Eshanosaurus live?

Eshanosaurus lived during the Early Jurassic Period, about 201 to 199 million years ago.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people assume Eshanosaurus was a large, fierce predator because it is a theropod dinosaur.

Truth: Eshanosaurus is classified as a therizinosaur, which were plant-eating theropods. Its teeth and jaw suggest it was a herbivore.1 4

For dino experts

Scientific name: Eshanosaurus
Named by: Xu et al. 20014
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Therizinosauridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Therizinosauria4
Age of the rocks: 201 to 200 million years (Hettangian)4
Rock formations: Lufeng4
Countries: China4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Eshanosaurus was named in 2001 by Xu Xing, Zhao Xijin, and James M. Clark. The fossil jaw was found in the Lower Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether Eshanosaurus really was a therizinosaur or a prosauropod. The fossil is very incomplete, and different experts disagree.1

Where the facts come from

Eshanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
A new therizinosaur from the Lower Jurassic lower Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Vol 21, No 3 (web.archive.org)
A NEW THERIZINOSAUR FROM THE LOWER JURASSIC LOWER LUFENG FORMATION OF YUNNAN, CHINA (ivpp.cas.cn)
Eshanosaurus 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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