Look up · dinosaur 523 of 1,425
sharp-clawed runner
Gorgosaurus
Say it like this: “GOR-guh-SOR-uhs”
Gorgosaurus libratus
Gorgosaurus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Canada.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 1914 · Lambe, L. M.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 8–9 m · 26–30 ft
- Weight
- 2–3 tonnes
- Found in
- Canada · Dinosaur Park
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Albertosaurinae
The story in short
The genus Gorgosaurus dates to 1914, the year L. M. Lambe described it. The name means “dreadful lizard.”
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from Canada, including the Dinosaur Park Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Gorgosaurus at a length near 8–9 m and a body mass around 2–3 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Albertosaurinae, among the theropod dinosaurs.