Zuolong
- Lived
- 162 to 155 million years ago, Late Jurassic
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Choiniere et al. 2010
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
160 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers, ponds and wetlands dotted the floodplains of the Shishugou Formation, where conifer forests also grew. Mamenchisaurus, Guanlong and Sinraptor lived in the same region.
Field notes
About Zuolong
What it was like
Zuolong was a medium-sized, two-legged meat eater and an early member of the coelurosaurs, the group that includes tyrannosaurs and birds. It is known from part of one skeleton with pieces of the skull.
Its world
It lived in the Late Jurassic, in what is now China. It comes from the Shishugou Formation, where it shared the land with the long-necked Mamenchisaurus, the crested early tyrannosaur Guanlong and the large predators Sinraptor and Monolophosaurus.
How it was found
Choiniere and colleagues named Zuolong in 2010. The name honors a historical general, and it ends in the Chinese word for dragon.
Field gallery
More views of Zuolong
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Zuolong.
The evidence
The science behind Zuolong
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton preserves skull pieces, backbone and limb bones.
- The skull had a low upper jaw, a large round eye socket and a low rough ridge behind the eye.
- Forearm bones were straight and slender, and a preserved hand claw was strongly curved.
Borrowed from relatives
- Guanlong offers a model for missing parts of the lower jaw, hands and feet.
- Filament-like feathers in fossils referred to Dilong suggest that Zuolong may have had a simple feather covering.
Still unknown
- The complete shape of its lower jaw and hands.
- Its skin covering and color.
- Its adult size and how its proportions changed as it grew.
Often drawn wrong
- Its palms faced inward rather than downward.
Discovery timeline
- 2004SkinXu et al.
- 2006Same rocksXu et al.
- 2010Named itChoiniere et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Zuolong
Skin
Reported filament-like feathers in a fossil referred to Dilong, supporting a possible simple feather covering in other early coelurosaurs such as Zuolong.
Basal tyrannosauroids from China and evidence for protofeathers in tyrannosauroids. Nature 431: 680-684
Read the paper : Basal tyrannosauroids from China and evidence for protofeathers in tyrannosauroids (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Named Guanlong from the same formation, providing a comparison for missing jaw and limb details in Zuolong.
A basal tyrannosauroid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China. Nature 439: 715-718
Read the paper : A basal tyrannosauroid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described the partial skeleton and named Zuolong as an early member of the coelurosaurs, the group that includes birds and tyrannosaurs.
A basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) of the Shishugou Formation in Wucaiwan, People's Republic of China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30: 1773-1796
Read the paper : A basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) of the Shishugou Formation in Wucaiwan, People's Republic of China (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Coelurosauria
Sources: Wikidata