Outline: a typical theropod
Gasosaurus
"gas lizard"
- Lived
- 171 to 155 million years ago, Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Length
- about 4 m (13 ft)
- Group
- Theropods
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Dong and Tang 1985
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical theropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
165 million years ago
Field notes
About Gasosaurus
What it was like
Gasosaurus was a mid-sized theropod about 4 meters (13 feet) long, a two-legged meat eater. Only part of its skeleton is known, and no skull, so its looks and exact place on the family tree are uncertain.
Its world
It lived in the Jurassic, in what is now China. It comes from the Shaximiao Formation, home to the long-necked Mamenchisaurus and Shunosaurus, the stegosaurs Huayangosaurus and Tuojiangosaurus, and the larger predator Yangchuanosaurus.
How it was found
Dong and Tang named Gasosaurus in 1985. Its unusual name honors the gas company whose work uncovered the fossils.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Tetanurae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: Z. Dong and Z. Tang. 1985. A new Mid-Jurassic theropod (<i>Gasosaurus constructus</i> gen. et sp. nov.) from Dashanpu, Zigong, Sichuan Province, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 23(1):77-83