Xuwulong

Say it like this: “shoo-WOO-long”

Xuwulong yueluni

Xuwulong ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.

Quiz me on Xuwulong

When: Early Cretaceous (Aptian) · roughly 121.4 to 113.2 million years ago
Named in: 2011 · You, H.; Li, D.; Liu, W.
Hip height: Not established
Length: 5 m · 16 ft
Weight: 650 kg · 1,433 lb
Found in: China · Xiagou
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two or four legs
Kind: beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
Family branch: Hadrosauroidea

The story in short

The genus Xuwulong dates to 2011, the year H. You and colleagues described it. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

It lived in the Early Cretaceous (Aptian), roughly 121.4 to 113.2 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Xiagou Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.

Published estimates put Xuwulong at a length near 5 m and a body mass around 650 kg.

On the family tree it sits in Hadrosauroidea, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Altirhinus

Altirhinus kurzanovi

Early Cretaceous (Albian) · roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago

Batyrosaurus

Batyrosaurus rozhdestvenskyi

Late Cretaceous (Santonian · Campanian) · roughly 85.7 to 72.2 million years ago

Bolong

Bolong yixianensis

Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago