Guanlong Characteristics

Guanlong measured 10 feet (3 metres) in length and stood 4 feet (1.1 metres) in height at the hip. This bipedal saurischian theropod shared many traits with its descendants, and also had some unusual ones, like a large crest on its head. Guanlongs were ferocious carnivorous dinosaurs having razor sharp claws and teeth and powerful jaws and like their tyrannosaurus relatives, they had powerful strong legs.

Aside from its distinctive crest, Guanlong would have resembled its close relative Dilong, and like Dilong may have had a coat of primitive feathers. Guanlong would have lived along side a distantly related dinosaur with a similar crest, Monolophosaurus. No one really knows what it was used for. It could have been to release a lot of heat or to interact with other dinosaurs.

Guanlong fossils were found in the Shishugou Formation dating to about 160 million years ago. Guanlong was discovered in the Dzungaria area of China by scientists from George Washington University, and named by Xu Xing in 2006. Only 2 fossils have been found. The first was a fully grown adult and a full skeleton. The second was a immature dinosaur about 70% complete. Looking at the difference in them, the crest triples in size but no other interesting information came with the aging of this dinosaur.

The National Geographic Channel documentary 'Dino Death Trap' was the first documentary to feature Guanlong, in which is described the discovery and interpretation of the so-called 'pits of death' in China. A number of Guanlong also appeared in the 2009 film Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
Guanlong also appears in National Geographic's 'Bizarre Dinosaurs'.