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sharp-clawed runner
Tugulusaurus
Say it like this: “too-GOO-loo-SAWR-us”
Tugulusaurus faciles
Tugulusaurus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian · Aptian) · roughly 125.8 to 113.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 1973 · Dong, Z.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 1.9–3 m · 6–10 ft
- Weight
- 15 kg · 33 lb
- Found in
- China · Lianmuqin
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Alvarezsauroidea
The story in short
In 1973, Z. Dong published the name Tugulusaurus. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
It lived in the Early Cretaceous (Barremian · Aptian), roughly 125.8 to 113.2 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Lianmuqin Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Tugulusaurus at a length near 1.9–3 m and a body mass around 15 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Alvarezsauroidea, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Alnashetri
Alnashetri cerropoliciensis
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) · roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago
Bannykus
Bannykus wulatensis
Early Cretaceous (Aptian) · roughly 121.4 to 113.2 million years ago
Haplocheirus
Haplocheirus sollers
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian) · roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago