Outline: a typical theropod
Nanshiungosaurus
"Nanxiong lizard"
Type species Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus
- Lived
- 113 to 66 million years ago, Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 4.4 m (14 ft)
- Group
- Theropods, Therizinosauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Dong 1979
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical theropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
90 million years ago
Field notes
About Nanshiungosaurus
What it was like
Nanshiungosaurus was a therizinosaur about 4.4 meters (14 feet) long, a plant eater with a long neck, a small head and long claws. It is known from most of the backbone and the hips, but no skull.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now southern China. Its bones come from the Yuanpu Formation.
How it was found
Dong named Nanshiungosaurus in 1979. A second species from northwestern China was later added, but many scientists think it belongs elsewhere.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Therizinosauridae
Sources: WikidataNamed in: Z. Dong. 1979. Cretaceous dinosaurs of Hunan, China. Mesozoic and Cenozoic Red Beds of South China: Selected Papers from the "Cretaceous-Tertiary Workshop", Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology & Nanjing Institute of Paleontology (eds.), Science Press, Nanxiong, China