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bird-hipped dinosaur
Sanxiasaurus
Say it like this: “san-zee-uh-SOR-us”
Sanxiasaurus modaoxiensis
Sanxiasaurus ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Jurassic · Middle Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Early Jurassic · Middle Jurassic (Toarcian · Aalenian) · roughly 184.2 to 170.9 million years ago
- Named in
- 2021 · Li, N.; Dai, H.; Tan, C.; Hu, X.; Wei, Z.; Lin, Y.; Wei, G.; Li, D.; Meng, L.; Hao, B.; You, H.; Peng, G.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 1.7 m · 6 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- China · Xintiangou
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two legs
- Kind
- bird-hipped dinosaur · Ornithischian
- Family branch
- Neornithischia
The story in short
In 2021, N. Li and colleagues published the name Sanxiasaurus. The name means “sanxia lizard.”
It lived in the Early Jurassic · Middle Jurassic (Toarcian · Aalenian), roughly 184.2 to 170.9 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Xintiangou Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Sanxiasaurus at a length near 1.7 m.
On the family tree it sits in Neornithischia, among the bird-hipped dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Agilisaurus
Agilisaurus louderbacki
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago
Enigmacursor
Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
Hexinlusaurus
Hexinlusaurus multidens
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago