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sharp-clawed runner
Alectrosaurus
Say it like this: “a-LEK-tro-SAWR-us”
Alectrosaurus olseni
Alectrosaurus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 1933 · Gilmore, C. W.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 5–6 m · 16–20 ft
- Weight
- 454–907 kg · 1,001–2,000 lb
- Found in
- China · Iren Dabasu
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Tyrannosauroidea
The story in short
The genus Alectrosaurus dates to 1933, the year C. W. Gilmore described it. The name means “alone lizard.”
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Iren Dabasu Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Alectrosaurus at a length near 5–6 m and a body mass around 454–907 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Tyrannosauroidea, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Aviatyrannis
Aviatyrannis jurassica
Late Jurassic (Oxfordian · Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 161.5 to 143.1 million years ago
Calamosaurus
Calamosaurus foxi
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Chingkankousaurus
Chingkankousaurus fragilis
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago