Suzhousaurus

Su-zhu-sor-us.
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Maeve Foster

Paleoclimatologist

Maeve Foster explores the Earth's climatic past to understand the forces that shaped life on our planet. Her research into ancient climate events provides valuable context for current environmental challenges.

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Name

Suzhousaurus ‭(‬Suzhou lizard‭)‬.

Phonetic

Su-zhu-sor-us.

Named By

D.‭ ‬Li,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Peng,‭ ‬H.‭ ‬You,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Lamanna,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Harris,‭ ‬K.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Lacovara‭ & ‬J.‭ ‬Zhang‭ ‬-‭ ‬2007.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Therizinosauroidea.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

S.‭ ‬megatherioides‭

Size

Roughly estimated to be about‭ ‬6‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

‭China.

Time Period

Aptian/Albian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

‭P‬artial post cranial skeleton including‭ ‬3‭ ‬dorsal‭ (‬back‭)‬,‭ ‬5‭ ‬sacral‭ (‬hip‭) ‬and the first‭ ‬6‭ ‬caudal‭ (‬tail‭) ‬vertebrae,‭ ‬left half of the pelvis and two femurs‭ (‬thigh bones‭)‬.

In Depth

       Suzhousaurus is a medium sized genus of therizinosaur that lived in China during the early Cretaceous.‭ ‬There is some speculation that Suzhousaurus may be the same genus as another therizinosaur named Nanshiungosaurus.‭ ‬However,‭ ‬because there is little if any‭ ‬overlapping fossil material,‭ ‬it is at the time of writing impossible to say for certain.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A large therizinosauroid‭ (‬Dinosauria:‭ ‬Theropoda‭) ‬from the Early Cretaceous of northwestern China.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Acta Geologica Sinica‭ ‬81‭(‬4‭)‬:539-549.‭ ‬-‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Li,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Peng,‭ ‬H.‭ ‬You,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Lamanna,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Harris,‭ ‬K.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Lacovara‭ & ‬J.‭ ‬Zhang‭ ‬-‭ ‬2007.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT