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sharp-clawed runner
Erlikosaurus
Say it like this: “ER-lik-o-SAWR-us”
Erlikosaurus andrewsi
Erlikosaurus ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mongolia.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Turonian · Coniacian · Santonian) · roughly 93.9 to 83.6 million years ago
- Named in
- 1980 · Barsbold, R.; Perle, A.
- Hip height
- 1 m · 3 ft
- Length
- 3.4 m · 11 ft
- Weight
- 250 kg · 551 lb
- Found in
- Mongolia · Bayanshiree
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Therizinosauridae
The story in short
Erlikosaurus was formally named in 1980 by R. Barsbold and A. Perle. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Turonian · Coniacian · Santonian), roughly 93.9 to 83.6 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia, including the Bayanshiree Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Erlikosaurus at a length near 3.4 m, hips about 1 m high, and a body mass around 250 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Therizinosauridae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Duonychus
Duonychus tsogtbaatari
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Santonian) · roughly 100.5 to 83.6 million years ago
Nanshiungosaurus
Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Nothronychus
Nothronychus mckinleyi
Late Cretaceous (Turonian) · roughly 93.9 to 89.8 million years ago