Sinosaurus

Say it: SINE-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Chinese lizard”1

Ate: MeatOther meat-eatersEarly Jurassic

Sinosaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived in China during the Early Jurassic. It had a crest on its head like its relative Dilophosaurus, and it was a fast runner that used its long arms and sharp teeth to catch prey.1

Lived

201 to 193 million years ago2

Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

Yunnan Province, China1

Food

Meat1

Length

5.85 m1

estimate from a virtual skeletal mount

Weight

895 kg1

Artist's life restoration of Sinosaurus — How Sinosaurus may have looked, by ДиБгд at Russian Wikipedia. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Scientists still argue about colours and details.

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Sinosaurus was named by the famous Chinese paleontologist Chung Chien Young in 1940, who is called the 'Father of Chinese Vertebrate Paleontology'.1

Its skull was about 52 centimeters (20 inches) long, similar in size to the skull of Dilophosaurus.1

Sinosaurus had a deep notch in its upper jaw that might have held a narrow, hooked beak for tearing open skin and flesh.1

Its teeth were curved backwards and had fine serrations on both edges, like a steak knife.1

Scientists think Sinosaurus was a fast runner because of its body shape and the ratio of its skull to body length.1

Some fossils of Sinosaurus were originally thought to be from the Triassic period, but they are actually from the Early Jurassic, about 201 to 183 million years ago.1

A nearly complete skeleton of Sinosaurus was once thought to be a species of Dilophosaurus, but scientists later moved it to Sinosaurus.1

Myth buster

Myth: Sinosaurus is the same as Dilophosaurus.

Truth: Sinosaurus looks similar to Dilophosaurus, but scientists are not sure if they are closely related. They are different genera.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Sinosaurus
Named by: Young 19402
Group: Other meat-eaters
Family / clade: Theropoda2
Classification: Theropoda2
Age of the rocks: 201 to 193 million years (Hettangian to Sinemurian)2
Rock formations: Lufeng2
Countries: China2
Fossil records: 16 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Sinosaurus was named by Chung Chien Young in 1940 based on a partial skull and teeth found in the Lufeng Formation in Yunnan, China.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Sinosaurus is closely related to Dilophosaurus or belongs to a different group of theropod dinosaurs.1

Where the facts come from

Sinosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Sinosaurus 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.