Look up · dinosaur 191 of 1,425
long-neck giant
Bellusaurus
Say it like this: “BEL-uh-SAWR-us”
Bellusaurus sui
Bellusaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian) · roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago
- Named in
- 1990 · Dong, Z.
- Hip height
- 2.1 m · 7 ft
- Length
- 4.8 m · 16 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- China · Shishugou
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- long-neck giant · Sauropod
- Family branch
- Eusauropoda
The story in short
The genus Bellusaurus dates to 1990, the year Z. Dong described it. The name means “beautiful lizard.”
It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian), roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Shishugou Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Bellusaurus at a length near 4.8 m and hips about 2.1 m high.
On the family tree it sits in Eusauropoda, among the sauropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Algoasaurus
Algoasaurus bauri
Early Cretaceous (Berriasian · Valanginian) · roughly 143.1 to 132.6 million years ago
Atlasaurus
Atlasaurus imelakei
Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) · roughly 168.2 to 165.3 million years ago
Bagualia
Bagualia alba
Early Jurassic (Toarcian) · roughly 184.2 to 174.7 million years ago