Erliansaurus
Name:
Erliansaurus
(Erlian lizard).
Phonetic: Er-le-an-sore-us.
Named By: X. Xu, Z.-H. Zhang, P. C.
Sereno, X.-J. Zhao, X.-W. Kuang, J. Han & L.
Tan - 2002.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Therizinosauroidea.
Species: E. bellamanus
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Holotype estimated about 2.5 meters long,
but this is a subadult, and fully grown adults would have been
larger.
Known locations: Mongolia - Iren Dabasu
Formation.
Time period: Campanian/Maastrichtian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial remains
including limbs, pelvis and vertebrae.
Erliansaurus is a genus of primitive therizinosauroid from the late Cretaceous of Mongolia, and the fact that the holotype comes from around the late Campanian and early Maastrichtian is an indication that Erliansaurus was a late surviving form that managed to exist in Asia at a time when other more advanced therizinosaurs were common. Erliansaurus should not be confused with the similarly named Erlikosaurus, which is also of genus of therizinosaur.
Further reading
- A new therizinosauroid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper
Cretaceous Iren Dabasu Formation of Nei Mongol. - Vertebrata
PalAsiatica 40(3):228-240. - X. Xu, Z.-H. Zhang, P.
C. Sereno, X.-J. Zhao, X.-W. Kuang, J. Han &
L. Tan - 2002.
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