GUANLONG
a meat-eating proceratosaurid tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of China.
Pronunciation: GWAHN-long
Meaning: Crowned dragon
Author/s: Xu, Clark, Forster,
et al. (
2006)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Xinjiang, China
Discovery Chart Position: #601
Guanlong wucaii
Guanlong (Crowned Dragon) is the best-represented tyrannosauroid in the fossil record and boasts a spectacular name-prompting head crest which ran along its snout from nostrils to eye sockets. This crest was distinctly delicate and too flimsy for a weapon but was likely brightly coloured and used to attract a mate or intimidate rivals. Like most early tyrannosauroids, Guanlong may have been feathered, at least partially, though there is no hard evidence to support this theory. Yet.
(Crowned dragon from Wucaiwan)Etymology
Guanlong takes its name from the Chinese "Guan" (crown) and "long" (dragon)" in reference to its headcrest, the most elaborate of any known theropod dinosaur. The
species epithet,
wucaii, is derived from the Chinese "wucai" (five colours) and refers to the multi-hued rocks at Wucaiwan, the badlands where the fossils were found.
Discovery
The fossils of
Guanlong were discovered in the Shishugou Formation at Wucaiwan, Junggar Basin, Xinjiang, northwestern China.
The
holotype (IVPP V14531) consists of a reasonably complete and partially articulated adult skeleton.
A referred specimen (IVPP V14532)
is a fully articulated, nearly complete skeleton, though much smaller than the holotype.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Late Jurassic
Stage: Oxfordian
Age range: 161-156 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 3 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: 75 Kg
Diet: Carnivore
References
• Xu X, Clark JM, Forster CA, Norell MA, Erickson GM, Eberth DA, Jia C and Qi Z (2006) "
A basal tyrannosauroid dinosaur from the Late
Jurassic of China".
Nature 439(7077): 715-8. DOI: 10.1038/nature04511 [Skull image credit.]
• Long J and Schouten P (2009) "
Feathered Dinosaurs: The Origin of Birds".
• Carr T (2006) "Is
Guanlong a tyrannosauroid or a subadult
Monolophosaurus?"
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3): 48-48.
• Eberth D, Xu X and Clark JM (2010) "
Dinosaur death pits from the Jurassic of China".
Palaios, 25(2): 112–125. DOI: 10.2110/palo.2009.p09-028r
• Yu Y, Sullivan C and Xu X (2015) "Three-dimensional modeling of the manual digits of the theropod dinosaur Guanlong, with a preliminary functional analysis".
Acta Palaeontologica Sinica, 54(2): 156-173.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
GUANLONG :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/GUANLONG›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
