大象传媒

Chinese baby dragon: the new feathered species of dinosaur

  • Published
illustration issued by the University of Calgary of an artists impression of a nesting Beibeilong sinensis dinosaur incubating its eggs.Image source, Zhao Chuang/PA Wire
Image caption,

This is what artists think the Chinese baby dragon dinosaur would have looked like

We've all heard of the Stegosaurus, Triceratops and, of course, the Tyrannosaurus rex.

But what about the Chinese baby dragon?

Well, that's the name of a new dinosaur species discovered in China.

The fossil of the baby dinosaur was found more than 25 years ago, but it's only now that scientists have been able to tell what type of dinosaur it is.

It was found in a nest of dinosaur eggs, and has even been given a name - "Baby Louie" .

Palaeontologists - scientists who studies fossils - have called it Beibeilong sinensis, which translates to "Chinese baby dragon".

What was the Chinese baby dragon like?

Looks:

It's been described as a gigantic bird-like dinosaur, covered in feathers and with a beak, but no teeth.

It's the first ever dinosaur we've found that's like this.

One scientist said it would have looked quite a bit like Big Bird, from Sesame Street!

Image source, AFP/Getty Images
Image caption,

You would win in a fight - Big Bird or Baby Louie?

Size:

The fossil of the baby dinosaur is small, only about the size of a guinea pig.

But it would have grown into an adult weighing more than 1,000 kg. That's almost as much as a small car!

Their eggs are believed to have sat in nests larger than a monster truck tyre.

Image source, AFP PHOTO / UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY / DARLA ZELENITS
Image caption,

The eggs found with the fossil are of the largest known type of dinosaur egg.

Researchers have found similar dinosaur eggs in China, South Korea, Mongolia and North America.

This might mean this kind of dinosaur would have been common around 100 million years ago.