Limusaurus

What it was like

Limusaurus was a small, slender theropod with a long neck, long legs and tiny arms. Young animals had teeth, but adults lost them and had a toothless beak instead. This change suggests that adults probably ate plants, even though they came from a line of meat eaters.

Its world

It lived in the Late Jurassic in what is now China. Its bones come from the Shishugou Formation, where it shared the land with the crested tyrannosaur relative Guanlong, the predator Sinraptor and the long-necked Mamenchisaurus.

How it was found

Xu and colleagues named Limusaurus in 2009. Several skeletons were found trapped in pits of mud, perhaps footprints left by giant sauropods, which is where its name comes from.