Fossils and restoration of Gigantoraptor Erlian

Megaraptor Erlian, which dates back about 80 million years ago, belongs to the oviraptorosaurs, a close relative of birds. It represents a transitional type of oviraptorosaurs and is also the largest maniraptorosaur discovered in the world (a group including oviraptorosaurs). A group of bird-like dinosaurs including egg dragons). The research results were published in the British "Nature" magazine on June 14, 2007, and were selected into the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Discoveries in the World" selected by the American "Time" magazine in 2007.

Restoration map of Erlian Gigantoraptor

Oviraptorosaurs are very similar to birds and are one of the closest relatives of birds. The general weight is a few kilograms or even less than 1 kilogram, but the Erlian megaraptor fossil discovered in the Gobi area of Erlian, Inner Mongolia in 2007 surprised everyone: it was about 8 meters long, more than 5 meters tall, and weighed about At 1,400 kilograms, its huge size is comparable to the giant tyrannosaurus among the carnivorous dinosaurs. During the research process, it continues to bring new surprises to scientists: it should have been more stout, but it has the slenderest figure among large dinosaurs, and it should have lost many bird-like features, but it is more like a small bird. This change It has taught us much about the enlargement of dinosaurs.

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