Yangchuanosaurus Characteristics

Yangchuanosaurus measured 33 feet (10 metres) in length and weighed around 3 - 4 tons. It had a very large skull which could measure up to 3.5 feet (1.1 metres) long. Like many predatory dinosaurs, Yangchuanosaurus had a low crest that ran along the front of its snout, from the nose to slightly in front of the eyes and multiple hornlets and ridges, similar to Ceratosaurus. It had huge jaws that contained many large, sharp teeth which it used to crush its prey. It had a massive tail that was about half its length. Yangchuanosaurus was a bipedal dinosaur and walked on its 2 large, powerful, hind legs which were equipped with 3 large clawed toes. Its fore limbs were short and equipped with 3 clawed fingers on each hand.

Yangchuanosaurus was a fierce carnivorous predator and may have hunted and stalked its prey in packs. It would have terrorized huge plants eaters that shared it landscape. Yangchuanosaurus probably stalked juveniles of large plant eating dinosaurs. Yangchuanosaurus may also have been a scavenger.

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

In June 1977, an almost complete skeleton of what was to be named Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis was uncovered by a construction worker during the construction of the Shangyou Reservoir Dam in the Yongchuan District. Since then further skeletons have been recovered. It is on display at the Beijing Natural History Museum.

Yangchuanosaurus was named by Dong Zhiming in 1978.