Alxasaurus

Alxasaurus
	Skeletal reconstruction of Alxasaurus
Temporal occurrence
	Lower Cretaceous ( Albium )
	112.9 to 100.5 million years
Locations
	China;
Systematics
	Dinosaur (dinosauria)
	Lizard dinosaur (Saurischia)
	Theropoda
	Maniraptora
	Therizinosauroidea
	Alxasaurus
Scientific name
	Alxasaurus
	Russell & Dong , 1993

Alxasaurus is a genus of the Therizinosauroidea of the Lower Cretaceous Period from China . Alxasaurus is one of the oldest known representatives of the Therizinosauroidea. The physique, however, including the long neck, long claws and short tail, is similar to that of the later therizinosaurs. Like the other genera of therizinosaurs, Alxasaurus was a herbivore. Its length is estimated to be around 4 meters.

Size comparison between Alxasaurus and a human

Alxasaurus was described by paleontologists Dale Russell and Dong Zhiming in 1993. It was named after the Alashan Desert in Inner Mongolia , where it was also found. The only known species, Alxasaurus elesitaiensis, is named after the village of Elesitai, near which Alxasaurus was found. Five Alxasaurus skeletons were found in the Bayin Gobi Formation . The formation contains fossils from the Albian period (approx. 112 to 100 million years). The lower jaw , many leg bones, ribs and vertebrae , including all five sacral vertebrae and the first 19 caudal vertebrae , were derived from the holotype .

Alxasaurus is counted to the Therizinosauroidea . Besides Falcarius , Beipiaosaurus and Enigmosaurus , it is often classified as a basal Therizinosauroidea, but also as the only member of the Alxasauridae. This is followed by a cladogram based on Lindsay E. Zanno (2010).

Therizinosauria

Therizinosauroidea

Alxasaurus

	Suzhousaurus

	Therizinosauridae

literature

Dale A. Russell , Zhi-Ming Dong: The affinities of a new theropod from the Alxa Desert, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. In: Philip J. Currie (Ed.): Results from the Sino-Canadian Dinosaur Project. = Résultats du Projet Dinosaurien Sino-Canadien (= Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. Vol. 30, No. 10, 1993, ISSN 0008-4077 ). National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa 1993, pp. 2107-2127, doi : 10.1139 / e93-183 .

Individual evidence

^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 157, online .
↑ James M. Clark , Teresa Maryanska , Rinchen Barsbold : Therizinosauroidea. In: David B. Weishampel , Peter Dodson , Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 , pp. 151-164, doi : 10.1525 / california / 9780520242098.003.0009 .
^ Lindsay E. Zanno: A taxonomic and phylogenetic re-evaluation of Therizinosauria (Dinosauria: Maniraptora). In: Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Vol. 8, No. 4, ISSN 1477-2019 , pp. 503-543, doi : 10.1080 / 14772019.2010.488045 .

Web links

Commons : Alxasaurus - collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 157, online .

[2] James M. Clark , Teresa Maryanska , Rinchen Barsbold : Therizinosauroidea. In: David B. Weishampel , Peter Dodson , Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 , pp. 151-164, doi : 10.1525 / california / 9780520242098.003.0009 .

[Zanno2010-3] Lindsay E. Zanno: A taxonomic and phylogenetic re-evaluation of Therizinosauria (Dinosauria: Maniraptora). In: Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Vol. 8, No. 4, ISSN 1477-2019 , pp. 503-543, doi : 10.1080 / 14772019.2010.488045 .