Sinosaurus triassicus Sinosaurus

"Chinese lizard"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Sinosaurus 5.8 m (19.2 ft) long
4 people holding hands
Length
5.8 m (19.2 ft)
Period
Early Jurassic (201–196 Mya)
Place
China
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Dinosauria

Sinosaurus (meaning “Chinese lizard”) is an extinct genus of basal theropod dinosaur which lived during the Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Sinemurian). Fossils of the animal have been found in the Lufeng Formation, in the Yunnan Province of China. The type species, S. triassicus, was named by Chung Chieng Young in 1940. A second species, S. sinensis, was originally assigned to Dilophosaurus, but was later reassigned to Sinosaurus. Sinosaurus is morphologically similar to Dilophosaurus including the presence of a similarly shaped cranial crest, though its precise taxonomic position is uncertain, and the two genera may not be closely related.

What we know

  • Named by Young, 1940.
  • Body length estimated at about 5.85 m.
  • Fossils found in China.