ZoomDinosaurs.com ALL ABOUT DINOSAURS!

ANATOMY
Yangchuanosaurus was a large, powerful meat-eater. It walked on two large, muscular legs, had short arms, a strong, short neck, a big head with powerful jaws, and large, serrated teeth. It had a long, massive tail that was about half of its length. Its feet had three toes, each with a large claw. Its arms were short, and it had three clawed fingers on each hand.

Yangchuanosaurus was up to 33 feet long (10 m). It weighed roughly 5200 pounds (2350 kg). It had a large skull up to 3.5 feet (1.1 m) long with ridges and a bony knob on its snout. It was slightly smaller but very similar to its close relative Allosaurus.

WHEN YANGCHUANOSAURUS LIVED
Yangchuanosaurus lived during the late Jurassic period to the early Cretaceous period, about 163-145 million years ago.

BEHAVIOR
Yangchuanosaurus was a hunter that may have stalked its prey in packs.

INTELLIGENCE
Yangchuanosaurus was a carnosaur, whose intelligence (as measured by its relative brain to body weight, or EQ) was high among the dinosaurs.


DIET
Yangchuanosaurus was a carnivore, a meat eater. It was a large, fierce predator that could kill even large sauropods. Yangchuanosaurus may also have been a scavenger.

LOCOMOTION
Yangchuanosaurus walked on two muscular legs and was a relatively fast runner. Dinosaur speeds are estimated using their morphology (characteristics like leg length and estimated body mass) and fossilized trackways.

DISCOVERY OF FOSSILS
Yangchuanosaurus was found in Yang-ch'uan, China (in Szechuan, eastern China) in the 1970's. It is on display at the Beijing Natural History Museum. Yangchuanosaurus was named by Dong Zhiming in 1978.

CLASSIFICATION
Yangchuanosaurus was a Saurischian dinosaur, the order of lizard-hipped dinosaurs. It was a theropod, a carnosaur, and an allosaurid (along with Allosaurus).

Information Sheets About Dinosaurs (and Other Prehistoric Creatures)

Enchanted Learning^®
Over 35,000 Web Pages
Sample Pages for Prospective Subscribers, or click below

Click to read our Privacy Policy

E-mail