Outline: a typical theropod
Tugulusaurus
"Tugulu lizard"
- Lived
- 137 to 101 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Dong 1973
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
120 million years ago
Field notes
About Tugulusaurus
What it was like
Tugulusaurus was a small meat eater known from parts of its legs, feet and hands. It is now thought to be an early alvarezsaur, a member of a group of bird-like dinosaurs that later had short arms with one large claw.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now northwestern China. Its bones come from the Lianmuqin Formation, where it shared the land with Psittacosaurus and the stegosaur Wuerhosaurus.
How it was found
Dong named Tugulusaurus in 1973. Its place was long unclear, and only later was it recognized as one of the first alvarezsaurs ever found.
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
Close relatives
Other members of Alvarezsauroidea
Sources: WikidataNamed in: Z. Dong. 1973. [Dinosaurs from Wuerho]. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica 11:45-52