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sharp-clawed runner
Sinosaurus
Say it like this: “SIEN-o-SOR-us”
Sinosaurus triassicus
Sinosaurus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago
- Named in
- 1940 · Young, C. C.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 5.6–5.8 m · 18–19 ft
- Weight
- 895 kg · 1,973 lb
- Found in
- China · Lufeng
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Neotheropoda
The story in short
The genus Sinosaurus dates to 1940, the year C. C. Young described it. The name means “chinese lizard.”
Fossils referred to Sinosaurus date to the Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian), roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Lufeng Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Sinosaurus at a length near 5.6–5.8 m and a body mass around 895 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Neotheropoda, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Cryolophosaurus
Cryolophosaurus ellioti
Early Jurassic (Sinemurian · Pliensbachian) · roughly 199.5 to 184.2 million years ago
Dilophosaurus
Dilophosaurus wetherilli
Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian · Pliensbachian) · roughly 201.4 to 184.2 million years ago
Dolichosuchus
Dolichosuchus cristatus
Late Triassic (Norian) · roughly 227.3 to 205.7 million years ago