In Depth
Kelmayisaurus is a genus of carcharodontosaurid dinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous. Kelmayisaurus is currently only known by partial upper and lower jaws, and because of this the exact size of Kelmayisaurus is still unknown. There are still reports of a second species named K. “grandis” approaching sizes of up to twenty-two meters long, something that if true would make Kelmayisaurus the largest theropod dinosaur ever. The reality of the matter however is that this claim appeared in a children’s book and that K. “grandis” was based upon a single vertebra that modern palaeontologists are certain belongs to a sauropod dinosaur, and not a theropod. This means that K. “grandis” does not exist, and there is no evidence at all that Kelmayisaurus grew to twenty-two meters in length.
The only valid species of Kelmayisaurus is the type species K. petrolicus, and as mentioned above the size of this species is indeterminate at the time of writing. The holotype fossils of Kelmayisaurus however have been noted as being similar to the genus Eocarcharia.
Further Reading
- [Dinosaurs from Wuerho]. Reports of Paleontological Expedition to Sinkiang (II): Pterosaurian Fauna from Wuerho, Sinkiang. - Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica 11:45-52. - Z. Dong - 1973. - A reassessment of Kelmayisaurus petrolicus, a large theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. - Stephen L. Brusatte, Roger B. J. Benson & Xing Xu - 2011.
