Dino card No. 0917 of 2,027

Jinbeisaurus

Say it: jin-BAY-sore-us

Name means: “northern Shanxi Province lizard”1

Ate: MeatTyrannosaursLate Cretaceous

Jinbeisaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now China. It was a cousin of the famous T. rex, but much smaller. Scientists found its skull bones and other parts in Shanxi Province.1 2

Lived

100 to 72 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Huiquanpu Formation, Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province, China2 1

Food

Meat3

Length

up to 6 m4

largest known specimen

Weight

up to 620 kg4

largest known specimen

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 21 big dogs

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 33 bananas end to endas heavy as 120 watermelons

How big was Jinbeisaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Jinbeisaurus is the first non-bird theropod dinosaur ever named from Shanxi Province in China.1

Its name comes from 'jin' (short for Shanxi) and 'bei' (north), because it was found in northern Shanxi.1

The holotype specimen includes both upper jaw bones (maxillae), a partial lower jaw, neck and back vertebrae, and a hip bone.1

Jinbeisaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, between about 100 and 72 million years ago.3

Scientists think Jinbeisaurus was more advanced than earlier tyrannosauroids like Suskityrannus and Xiongguanlong, but not as advanced as the true tyrannosaurids.1

Some researchers now think the Jinbeisaurus fossil might be from a young animal, not a full-grown adult.1

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

?How big was Jinbeisaurus?

Scientists do not know its exact size yet, but it was much smaller than T. rex. The fossil bones suggest it was a medium-sized tyrannosauroid.1

?What did Jinbeisaurus eat?

Jinbeisaurus was a meat-eater. It likely hunted smaller dinosaurs and other animals that lived in its environment.1

?When did Jinbeisaurus live?

Jinbeisaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, between about 100 and 72 million years ago.1

?Is Jinbeisaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, Jinbeisaurus is a dinosaur. It is a type of tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Jinbeisaurus
Named by: Wu et al. 20205
Group: Tyrannosaurs
Family / clade: Tyrannosauroidea5
Classification: Theropoda > Tyrannosauroidea5
Age of the rocks: 100 to 72 million years (Cenomanian / Campanian)5
Rock formations: Huiquanpu5
Countries: China5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Jinbeisaurus was named in 2020 by Xiao-Chun Wu and colleagues based on fossils collected in 2011 near Yangjiayao, Tianzhen County, China. The fossils are stored at the Shanxi Museum of Geology.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Jinbeisaurus was an adult or a juvenile. Some studies suggest it was fully grown, while others think it was still young.1

Where the facts come from

Jinbeisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
A new tyrannosauroid from the Upper Cretaceous of Shanxi, China (sciencedirect.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Jinbeisaurus wangi | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
Jinbeisaurus 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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