恐龍卡第 1059 張，共 2 027 張

Limusaurus

吃：植物肉食恐龍侏羅紀晚期

Limusaurus was a small, beaked dinosaur that lived in what is now China about 155 million years ago. Unlike most meat-eating dinosaurs, it ate plants! Its strange hand helped scientists solve a puzzle about how bird wings evolved.1

生存年代

162 到 155 百萬年前7

侏羅紀晚期

化石發現地

Xinjiang, China, in the Shishugou Formation2 1

長度

1.7 到 1.955 m (5.6 到 6.4 ft)3 4

體重

15 kg (33 lb)3

高度

0.67 m (2.2 ft)

估計值

最高速度

時速約 41 公里（25 英里）

跑步, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

牠有多高？

估計值

牠有多重？

跟 4 隻家貓一樣重

跟 4 隻家貓從鼻子接到尾巴一樣長跟 11 根香蕉頭尾相接一樣長跟 120 根香蕉一樣重能在 8.8 秒內跑完 100 公尺（最快的人類要 9.6 秒）

Limusaurus 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡算算數學。什麼都不會被儲存或傳送出去。

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

Limusaurus 時速約 41 公里 (25 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Limusaurus was a ceratosaur, the first one ever found in Asia.1

It had a very small thumb, or first digit, while the other two fingers were normal. This is a rare condition in dinosaurs.1

Its hand showed a mix of features: the wrist bones were like the second, third and fourth digits, but the finger bones were like the first, second and third.1

Limusaurus lived during the Oxfordian stage, about 161 to 155 million years ago.2

It is the only Jurassic theropod known to have a beak and a plant-based diet.1

The discovery of Limusaurus helped scientists understand how the three-fingered hand of theropods could turn into the two-fingered hand of birds.1

Limusaurus 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Limusaurus 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

你們都在問

關於 Limusaurus 最常被問的問題

?What did Limusaurus eat?

It ate plants. Adults had a beak and no teeth, and they also had gastroliths (stomach stones) to help grind up plant food. Juveniles had teeth, so they may have eaten a mix of plants and small animals.5

?How big was Limusaurus?

About 1.7 metres long and weighed around 15 kilograms. That is about as long as a small car is tall, but much lighter.5

?Did Limusaurus have feathers?

Nobody knows for sure. It may have had feathers, but no direct evidence of feathers has been found on its fossils.5

?Why is Limusaurus important?

Its strange hand helped scientists solve a puzzle about how bird wings evolved. It showed a mix of wrist and finger features that explain how the three-fingered hand of theropods turned into the bird wing.1 6

?Is Limusaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a dinosaur. It is a theropod dinosaur, which is the same group that includes birds.5

?When did Limusaurus live?

It lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 161 to 155 million years ago.5

迷思破解王

迷思： Because it is a theropod, Limusaurus must have been a meat-eater.

真相： Limusaurus was actually a plant-eater, with a beak and no sharp teeth for hunting. It is one of the few herbivorous theropods known.1

給恐龍專家

學名: Limusaurus
命名者: Xu et al. 20097
類群: 肉食恐龍
科 / 演化支: Noasauridae7
分類: Theropoda > Ceratosauria7
岩石的年代: 162 到 155 百萬年 (Oxfordian)7
岩層: Shishugou7
國家: 中國7
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 3 筆7
發現: Limusaurus was named and described in 2009 by a team led by paleontologist Xing Xu. Fossils were found in the Junggar Basin of western China.1 2
仍有爭議: Scientists still debate exactly which digits of the hand were lost during theropod evolution, and Limusaurus shows a confusing mix of features that makes this question tricky.1