Alxasaurus elesitaiensis

Elesitain Alxa Lizard

Alxasaurus elesitaiensis
(D. A. Russell & Dong, 1995)

The are many large herbivores feeding off the varied flora of early Cretaceous southeast Asia, one of these is Alxasaurus elesitaiensis. Closely related to the therizinosaur Beipiaosaurus inexpectus in the forests, A. elesitaiensis is a browser of the large plants further north of Beipiaosaurus's range.

Like all therizinosaurs, A. elesitaiensis is a squat biped with a large belly, powerful hind legs, a long neck, and large, curved claws on its forelimbs. A. elesitaiensis is a slow moving creature, its low center of gravity and wide hips forcing the animal to walk with a waddling gait like a giant goose, with its torso held high. The long, mobile neck of A. elesitaiensis can move the head through a wide range of motion: up to scan the horizon for predators and down to brows off a bush or small tree. The large talons on its hands serve as defense against predators.

Thanks to Ray Stanford, of course.

Other sites containing pertinent information:

Dinosauricon's Alxasaurus (with several good pictures)
DinoData's Alxasaurus page
Dinosaur Groups's Therizinosaur page (with a photo of Alxasaurus's skeleton)
Øyvind M. Padron's Alxasaurus (skeletal reconstruction)
"Sengosaurs (Therizinosaurs)" by Teresa Maryañska, part of The Complete Dinosaur edited by James Farlow and published in 1997 by the Indiana University Press.

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