Dinosaur size
Size is an important aspect of dinosaur paleontology, of interest to both the general public and professional scientists. Dinosaurs show some of the most extreme variations in size of any land animal group, ranging from tiny hummingbirds, which can weigh as little as two grams, to the extinct titanosaurs, which could weigh as much as 50–100 t (55–110 short tons).
Scientists will probably never be certain of the largest and smallest dinosaurs. This is because only a small fraction of animals ever fossilize, and most of these remain buried in the earth and will never be uncovered. Of the specimens that are recovered, few are even relatively complete skeletons, and impressions of skin and other soft tissues are rarely discovered. Rebuilding a complete skeleton by comparing the size and morphology of bones to those of similar, better-known species is an inexact art, and reconstructing the muscles and other organs of the living animal is, at best, a process of educated guesswork, and never perfect. Mass estimates for dinosaurs are much more variable than length estimates, because estimating length for extinct animals is much more easily done from a skeleton than estimating mass, since muscle volume makes a much smaller difference. Estimating mass is most easily done with the laser scan skeleton technique that puts a "virtual" skin over it, but even this is only an estimate.
The latest evidence suggests that dinosaurs' average size varied through the Triassic, early Jurassic, late Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and dinosaurs probably only became widespread during the early or mid Jurassic. Predatory theropod dinosaurs, which occupied most terrestrial carnivore niches during the Mesozoic, most often fall into the 100–1,000 kg (220–2,200 lb) category when sorted by estimated weight into categories based on order of magnitude, whereas recent predatory carnivoran mammals peak in the range of 10–100 kg (22–220 lb). The mode of Mesozoic dinosaur body masses is between one and ten metric tonnes. This contrasts sharply with the size of Cenozoic mammals, estimated by the National Museum of Natural History as about 2 to 5 kg (4.4 to 11.0 lb).
| Named | Era | Diet | Family | Height | Length | Weight | Social Group | Species |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compsognathus | Late Jurassic | Carnivore | Compsognathidae | 0.4M | 1.0M | 2KG | 1-25 | C. longipes |
| Plesiosaurus | Early Jurassic | Piscivore | Plesiosauridae | 1M | 3.5M | 454KG | 1-10 | P. dolichodeirus |
| Cearadactylus | Early Cretaceous | Piscivore | Anhangueridae | 1M | 4.3M | 15KG | 1-12 | C. atrox |
| Deinonychus | Early Cretaceous | Carnivore | Dromaeosauridae | 1.0M | 3.2M | 100KG | 3-8 | D. antirrhopus |
| Dracorex | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Pachcephalosauridae | 1.1M | 3.5M | 600KG | 2-8 | D. hogwartsia |
| Dimorphodon | Early Jurassic | Piscivore | Dimorphodontinae | 1.2M | 1.3M | 2KG | 1-12 | D. weintraubi |
| Ichthyosaurus | Late Triassic | Piscivore | Ichthyosauridae | 1.3M | 5.4M | 163KG | 4-9 | I. communis |
| Liopleurodon | Late Jurassic | Piscivore | Pliosauridae | 1.5M | 7.4M | 2.3T | 4-8 | L. ferox |
| Kentrosaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Stegosauridae | 1.5M | 6.8M | 3T | 3-11 | K. aethiopicus |
| Stygimoloch | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Pachycephalosauridae | 1.5M | 3.8M | 78KG | 4-12 | S. spinifer |
| Nodosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Nodosauridae | 1.5M | 7.5M | 2.5T | 1-4 | N. textilis |
| Tapejara | Early Cretaceous | Piscivore | Tapejaridae | 1.6M | 5.6M | 76KG | 3-5 | T. wellnhoferi |
| Velociraptor | Late Cretaceous | Carnivore | Dromaeosauridae | 1.7M | 3.9M | 150KG | 2-6 | V. mongoliensis |
| Polacanthus | Early Cretaceous | Herbivore | Nodosauridae | 1.7M | 7.0M | 900KG | 1-3 | P. foxii |
| Tylosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Piscivore | Mosasauridae | 1.9M | 14.9M | 4T | 3-9 | T. prioriger |
| Nasutoceratops | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ceratopsidae | 1.9M | 6.6M | 1.5T | 3-10 | N. titusi |
| Metriacanthosaurus | Late Jurassic | Carnivore | Metriacanthosauridae | 2.0M | 8.0M | 2T | 1-2 | M. parkeri |
| Pteranodon | Late Cretaceous | Piscivore | Pteranodontidae | 2.0M | 6.4M | 25KG | 1-6 | P. sternbergi |
| Huayangosaurus | Middle Jurassic | Herbivore | Huayangosauridae | 2.2M | 8.5M | 3T | 1-13 | H. taibaii |
| Pachycephalosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Pachycephalosauridae | 2.3M | 8.5M | 450KG | 3-6 | P. wyomingensis |
| Gigantspinosaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Stegosauridae | 2.3M | 8.0M | 700KG | 4-10 | G. sichuanensis |
| Chasmosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ceratopsidae | 2.3M | 7.5M | 1.5T | 3-5 | C. russelli |
| Chungkingosaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Huayangosauridae | 2.4M | 7.5M | 3T | 2-12 | C. jiangbeiensis |
| Ceratosaurus | Late Jurassic | Carnivore | Ceratosauridae | 2.4M | 8.8M | 1T | 1-3 | C. nasicornis |
| Indoraptor | HOLOCENE | Carnivore | Hybrid | 2.4M | 7.3M | NA | 1-1 | NA |
| Corythosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Hadrosauridae | 2.5M | 9.0M | 4T | 2-13 | C. intermedius |
| Sinoceratops | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ceratopsidae | 2.5M | 8.1M | 5T | 2-7 | S. zhuchengensis |
| Maiasaura | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Hadrosauridae | 2.5M | 9.0M | 1T | 4-12 | M. peeblesorum |
| Struthiomimus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ornithomimidae | 2.6M | 4.3M | 150KG | 1-20 | S. altus |
| Muttaburrasaurus | Early Cretaceous | Herbivore | Rhabdodontomorpha | 2.6M | 8.5M | 3.1T | 6-12 | M. langdoni |
| Torosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ceratopsidae | 2.6M | 8.5M | 6T | 2-5 | T. latus |
| Dilophosaurus | Early Jurassic | Carnivore | Dilophosauridae | 2.7M | 8.0M | 400KG | 1-12 | D. wetherilli |
| Sauropelta | Early Creataceous | Herbivore | Nodosauridae | 2.7M | 8.0M | 1.5T | 1-2 | S. edwardsorum |
| Stellasaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ceratopsidae | 2.8M | 8.5M | 3T | 2-5 | S. ovatus |
| Triceratops | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ceratopsidae | 3.0M | 9.0M | 12T | 1-6 | T. horridus |
| Ankylosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ankylosauridae | 3.0M | 9.0M | 6T | 1-4 | A. magniventris |
| Baryonyx | Early Cretaceous | Piscivore | Spinosauridae | 3.0M | 9.3M | 1T | 1-2 | B. walkeri |
| Mosasaurus | Late Cretaceous | Piscivore | Mosasauridae | 3.2M | 17M | 5T | 1-1 | M. beaugei |
| Gorgosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Carnivore | Tyrannosauridae | 3.3M | 9.6M | 3T | 1-4 | G. libratus |
| Carnotaurus | Late Cretaceous | Carnivore | Abelisauridae | 3.3M | 10.4M | 2.2T | 1-2 | C. sastrei |
| Parasaurolophus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Hadrosauridae | 3.4M | 10.0M | 5.6T | 4-14 | P. walkeri |
| Gallimimus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ornithomimidae | 3.9M | 8.3M | 400KG | 1-18 | G. bullatu |
| Stegosaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Stegosauridae | 4.0M | 10.6M | 7T | 5-9 | S. ungulatus |
| Edmontosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Hadrosauridae | 4.0M | 12.4M | 4T | 1-15 | E. regalis |
| Iguanodon | Early Cretaceous | Herbivore | Iguanodontidae | 4.2M | 13.5M | 4T | 1-10 | I. bernissartensis |
| Allosaurus | Late Jurassic | Carnivore | Allosauridae | 4.3M | 12.1M | 2.3T | 1-1 | A. europaeus |
| Tsintaosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Hadrosauridae | 4.4M | 13.4M | 3T | 4-15 | T. spinorhinus |
| Spinosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Piscivore | Spinosauridae | 4.7M | 15.0M | 20T | 1-2 | S. aegyptiacus |
| Pentaceratops | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Ceratopsidae | 4.7M | 8.0M | 5T | 3-5 | P. sternbergii |
| Tyrannosaurus Rex | Late Cretaceous | Carnivore | Tyrannosauridae | 5.0M | 14.0M | 18T | 1-1 | T. rex |
| Elasmosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Piscivore | Elasmosauridae | 5.0M | 18.8M | 10T | 1-8 | E. platyurus |
| Giganotosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Carnivore | Carcharodontosauridae | 6.2M | 16.0M | 14T | 1-2 | G. carolinii |
| Indominus Rex | HOLOCENE | Carnivore | Hybrid | 6.3M | 15.5M | NA | 1-1 | NA |
| Diplodocus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Diplodocidae | 6.4M | 32.0M | 16T | 1-8 | D. hallorum |
| Apatosaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Diplodocidae | 6.9M | 24.5M | 38T | 3-7 | A. louisae |
| Camarasaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Camarasauridae | 10.4M | 18.0M | 51T | 2-7 | C. grandis |
| Supersaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Diplodocidae | 12.5M | 40.0M | 50T | 1-5 | S. vivianae |
| Mamenchisaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Mamenchisauridae | 16.7M | 26.0M | 70T | 2-4 | M. sinocanadorum |
| Brachiosaurus | Late Jurassic | Herbivore | Brachiosauridae | 18.7M | 30.1M | 60T | 1-5 | B. altithorax |
| Argentinosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Titanosauria | 19.3M | 39.4M | 75T | 2-7 | A. huinculensis |
| Sauroposeidon | Early Cretaceous | Herbivore | Brachiosauridae | 20.4M | 34.9M | 80T | 1-4 | S. proteles |
| Alamosaurus | Late Cretaceous | Herbivore | Saltasauridae | 21.5M | 50.4M | 100T | 1-5 | A. sanjuanensis |
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