Yangchuanosaurus

Say it like this: “YAHNG-CHWAHN-o-SAWR-us”

Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis

Yangchuanosaurus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in China.

Quiz me on Yangchuanosaurus

When: Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago
Named in: 1978 · Dong, Z.; Zhang, Y.; Li, X.; Zhou, S.
Hip height: 2.5 m · 8 ft
Length: 8–11 m · 26–36 ft
Weight: 3–3.4 tonnes
Found in: China · Shaximiao
Food and walking: Carnivore · Two legs
Kind: sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
Family branch: Metriacanthosauridae

The story in short

The genus Yangchuanosaurus dates to 1978, the year Z. Dong and colleagues described it. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Yangchuanosaurus date to the Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian), roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Shaximiao Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Yangchuanosaurus at a length near 8–11 m, hips about 2.5 m high, and a body mass around 3–3.4 tonnes.

On the family tree it sits in Metriacanthosauridae, among the theropod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Alpkarakush

Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus

Middle Jurassic (Callovian) · roughly 165.3 to 161.5 million years ago

Shidaisaurus

Shidaisaurus jinae

Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) · roughly 170.9 to 168.2 million years ago

Yuanmouraptor

Yuanmouraptor jinshajiangensis

Middle Jurassic (Aalenian · Bajocian) · roughly 174.7 to 168.2 million years ago