Erlikosaurus
Erlikosaurus andrewsi
Pronounced:
er-Lick-o-Saw-rus
Diet:
Carnivore(meat-eater)
Name Means:
"Erlik's Lizard"
Length:
20 ft. (6 m)
Height:
8 ft. (2.7 m)
Weight:
350 lb. (160 kilos)
Time:
Late Crutaceous - 95 mya
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in Asia, possibly North America
Erlikosaurus is another
member of the strange and
exciting therizinosaur family
from Asia and, as has been
discovered in recent years,
North America. These dinosaurs,
which may have been feathered,
were fairly large and had long,
sharp hand claws. Some
scientists think that these long
claws were used for digging in
the ground, possibly looking for
large insects or the small
mammals that lived with
dinosaurs.
Known from a skull and some
post-cranial material, Erlikosaurus
seems typical of the Mongolian
therizinosaurs. Of the most interest is
a suggestion by Dr. Philip Currie, head
of Jurassic Park Foundation, that
material found in Canada in the late
1970?s and previously attributed to a
theropod species may in fact belong to
Erlikosaurus. |
