Look up · dinosaur 1369 of 1,425
sharp-clawed runner
Xunmenglong
Say it like this: “shoon-MUNG-long”
Xunmenglong yinliangis
Xunmenglong ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian) · roughly 132.6 to 125.8 million years ago
- Named in
- 2020 · Xing, L.; Miyashita, T.; Wang, D.; Niu, K.; Currie, P. J.
- Hip height
- 0.1 m · 0 ft
- Length
- 0.5 m · 2 ft
- Weight
- 1 kg · 2 lb
- Found in
- China · Huajiying
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Compsognathidae
The story in short
The genus Xunmenglong dates to 2020, the year L. Xing and colleagues described it. The name means “swift fierce dragon.”
Fossils referred to Xunmenglong date to the Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian), roughly 132.6 to 125.8 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Huajiying Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Xunmenglong at a length near 0.5 m, hips about 0.1 m high, and a body mass around 1 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Compsognathidae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Aristosuchus
Aristosuchus pusillus
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Beipiaognathus
Beipiaognathus jii
Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Compsognathus
Compsognathus longipes
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago