Zhongjianosaurus

Say it like this: “chung-CHEE-en-o-SOR-us”

Zhongjianosaurus yangi

Zhongjianosaurus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.

Quiz me on Zhongjianosaurus

When: Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Named in: 2017 · Xu, X.; Qin, Z. C.
Hip height: 0.2 m · 1 ft
Length: 0.6 m · 2 ft
Weight: 1 kg · 2 lb
Found in: China · Yixian
Food and walking: Carnivore · Two legs
Kind: sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
Family branch: Microraptorinae

The story in short

Zhongjianosaurus was formally named in 2017 by X. Xu and Z. C. Qin. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Zhongjianosaurus date to the Early Cretaceous (Barremian), roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Yixian Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Zhongjianosaurus at a length near 0.6 m, hips about 0.2 m high, and a body mass around 1 kg.

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

Close relatives

Changyuraptor

Changyuraptor yangi

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

Graciliraptor

Graciliraptor lujiatunensis

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

Hesperonychus

Hesperonychus elizabethae

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago