Beipiaosaurus
Beipiaosaurus inexpectus
Pronounced: Bay - pee - o - Sore - us
Diet: Carnivore (Meat-Eater)
Name Means: "Beipiao lizard"
Length: 7 feet (2.2 m)
Height: 4 feet (1.3 m)
Weight: 100 pounds (45 kilos)
Time: Early Cretaceous - 130 MYA
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in Asia
Beipiaosaurus had the longest feathers of any dinosaur yet found. Classified
as a meat-eater, it is thought that these dinosaurs would also have fed on
insects a great deal of the time. It is considered a bird-like dinosaur and
shared a number of features that are now found on modern birds.
Described in 1999, Beipiaosaurus is one of a few known bird-like dinosaurs.
It came from the famous shale quarries of Liaoning, China, which are well known
for producing many incredibly detailed fossils of small dinosaurs and birds.
Most of the bird/dinosaur relationship studies are conducted on specimens from
this quarry, as unique ecological conditions preserved even the soft parts of
the animals that died at this site. These unusual conditions allowed for the
perfect preservation of feathers.
Beipiaosaurus remains are fragmentary, but they do show that it was bipedal
like other therizinosaurs and that it had sharp, curved hand claws and
protofeathers. |
