Nanshiungosaurus
Nanshiungosaurus was a big, pot-bellied dinosaur that walked on two legs and had a beak like a bird. It lived in what is now China near the very end of the Age of Dinosaurs, about 67 million years ago.21
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Fun facts
Nanshiungosaurus had a very long neck with unusually strong back bones, and its hips were wide and bulky.2
When it was first discovered in 1974, scientists thought it was a weird dwarf sauropod, not a therizinosaur.2
It lived alongside the long-snouted tyrannosaur Qianzhousaurus and many oviraptorosaurs like Banji and Corythoraptor.2
Nanshiungosaurus was one of the last therizinosaurs to exist, living just before the dinosaur extinction.2
Its name comes from Nanxiong, the city near where its fossils were found, and the Greek word for lizard.2
Only the backbone and pelvis of Nanshiungosaurus have been found, so no one knows what its head looked like.1
Most asked questions about Nanshiungosaurus
?How big was Nanshiungosaurus?
About 5 metres long and weighed roughly 600 to 907 kilograms.2
?What did Nanshiungosaurus eat?
It was omnivorous, meaning it ate both plants and animals. It had a beak and teeth for feeding.1
?When did Nanshiungosaurus live?
It lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 84 to 71 million years ago, or near the very end of the Age of Dinosaurs.1
?Where was Nanshiungosaurus found?
Its fossils were found in China, in the Nanxiong Basin of Guangdong Province.2
?Did Nanshiungosaurus have feathers?
Scientists think it likely had feathers, like other therizinosaurs, but no feathers were found with its fossils.2
?Was Nanshiungosaurus a dinosaur?
Yes, it was a theropod dinosaur, specifically a therizinosaurid.2
?Why is it called Nanshiungosaurus?
Its name means 'Nanxiong lizard', after the city near where its fossils were found.2
?Could Nanshiungosaurus fly?
No, it was a ground-dwelling dinosaur that walked on two legs. It could not fly.2
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Myth buster
Myth: Nanshiungosaurus was a sauropod dinosaur.
Truth: Scientists now know it was a therizinosaur, a type of feathered theropod with a beak and claws.2
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Nanshiungosaurus
- Named by
- Dong 19794
- Group
- Odd feathered dinos
- Family / clade
- Therizinosauridae4
- Classification
- Theropoda > Therizinosauria4
- Age of the rocks
- 113 to 66 million years (Albian / Maastrichtian)4
- Rock formations
- Zhonggou, Yuanpu4
- Countries
- China4
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- The first fossils were found in 1974 by a team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in China. Dong Zhiming named and described Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus in 1979.2
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if a second species called 'Nanshiungosaurus' bohlini really belongs to this genus, because it is older and from a different place.2
Where the facts come from
- Nanshiungosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Nanshiungosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Nanshiungosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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