The terrible and unknow dinosaur
Name: Alectrosaurus
Diet: Carnivore
Weight: 3 tons
Period: Cretaceous
Found In: Mongolia
This time we’ll be talking about a very little known dinosaur.
Actually its ignorance comes because there are few fossil remains that can throw clues about its life, however, we were able to find information about it. Let’s know a little more about this dinosaur. Read on.
What does Alectrosaurus name mean?
This dinosaur was named by Charles W. Gilmore in 1933. Literally translated from the Greek, “Alectrosaurus” means “Single Lizard”; Gilmore, chose “Bachelor” referring to “being alone”.
At the time of its discovery, it was thought to be quite different from other Asian dinosaurs.
Although part of the reason was that several fossil bones of a (unrelated) dinosaur were also originally thought to belong to the animal.
History of the Alectrosaururs discovery
As we said before, this was a specimen discovered in 1923 by George Olsen and later described by Charles W. Gilmore.
Gilmore published the first scientific description of Alectrosaurus in 1933 based on the fossil remains found in the formation of Irish Daba su.
Since the bones of Alectrosaurus were found along with the arm bones of another dinosaur, a false reconstruction of the unusually long arm Tyrannosaurus was carried out.
The arm bones were later recognized as those of a representative of Therizinosauria (Segnosaurus).
The Alectrosaurus holotype consists of a hind leg discovered in the Daba Su Irish Formation in Inner Mongolia.
It is believed to date from the Campanian, exactly from the late Cretaceous, period between 84 and 71 million years ago.
More fossil material has been discovered, such as some hind parts, creating and parts of the shoulder.
These fossil remains were found in the Bayan Shireh Formation in Outer Mongolia, but the approximate age of this formation has not been established.
When the Alectrosaurus lived and ate
Alectrosaurus was an Asian theropod dinosaur related to Tyrannosaurus rex. It was a carnivore (meat eater) and lived in what is now the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and China.
Alectrosaururs lived during the late Cretaceous, between 83 and 74 million years ago.
Characteristics of Alectrosaurus
Alectrosaurus could measure on average about five meters long, and probably weighed from half a ton to one ton. Although this data is not very accurate.
Its body shape resembles that of its much larger relative, Tyrannosaurus rex.
Alectrosaurus was much smaller, probably less than five metres long.
Some details of this dinosaur are currently unclear, because so far only partial fossils have been found.
In addition, some paleontologists have suggested that Alectrosaurus may actually be a species of Albertosaurus.
