Nanshiungosaurus
nan-shee-UNG-oh-SORE-us
- featured
- dlc
Nanshiungosaurus is a powerfully built member of the therizinosaurid family that originally lived in Late Cretaceous China. From arms that end in large recurved claws beneficial for browsing foliage to a sharp beak and serrated teeth that are effective in chewing through plant material, this is an animal well-adapted to a herbivorous diet.
Discovery
A 1974 expedition to the Nanxiong Basin uncovered several fossilised remains of prehistoric animals. One specimen, a partial skeleton including a bulky and mostly intact pelvis of unusual shape, was attributed to a new species – Nanshiungosaurus – and was thought to belong to some kind of small sauropod. Further analysis in the 1990s revealed that the bones actually belong to a therizinosaurid, informing our modern understanding of this animal.
Palaeoecology
In its inland floodplain environment, the Nanshiungosaurus used its long neck and robust torso to graze high in the forest canopy, compared to the lower-grazing herbivores it shared this ecology with. Its large claws may seem intimidating, but they were primarily used to pull down branches and browse foliage rather than to attack or defend against any contemporary carnivores.
Information
- Era
- Late Cretaceous
- Family
- Deinocheiridae
- Genus
- Nanshiungosaurus
- height
- 2.5M
- length
- 7.1M
- weight
- 800Kg
- Diet
- Ground Palaeobotany
- Egg batch size
- 1 - 2
