Dinosaurs A to Z
Mamenchisauridae

Bellusaurus sui

"Beautiful lizard"

Generic sauropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Bellusaurus 4.8 m (15.7 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic sauropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Bellusaurus
Length
4.8 m (15.7 ft)
Period
Late Jurassic (161 Mya)
Place
China
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Mamenchisauridae

Bellusaurus (meaning “Beautiful lizard”, from Vulgar Latin bellus ‘beautiful’ (masculine form) and Ancient Greek sauros ‘lizard’) was a sauropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) known from juvenile specimens that would have measured about 4.8 m long. Its fossils were found in Shishugou Formation rocks in the northeastern Junggar Basin in China.

What we know

  • Named by Dong, 1990.
  • Body length estimated at about 4.8 m.
  • Fossils found in China.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Bellusaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.