Fun Bolong Facts For Kids

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of fascinating creatures. From blowing fire to being giant, they have only become more and more interesting with each discovery. Dinosaurs initially appeared around 233-243 million years ago, during the Triassic epoch. The first dinosaur fossils were discovered in the early 19th century from a site in England, with Sir Richard Owen coining the name dinosaur, which means terrible lizard. While there are over 1000 dinosaur species from several families, just a few of the major ones are well-known. Blong is one of the least popular dinosaurs of the well-known Iguanodontidae family. Other members of the family have surpassed it in popularity. The discovery of Bolong piqued the curiosity of scientists and paleontologists at first, but they were subsequently ignored, most likely owing to a lack of well-preserved remains. As a result, there isn't a lot of comprehensive knowledge or information about their anatomy and behavior. Bolong, also known as Bo's lizard, is a small dinosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous era around 125 million years ago. It has a number of unique characteristics, distinguishing it from all other members of the family. Did you know the public is permitted to see the holotype that is presently on exhibit at a site in Yixian?

To see additional information about Bolong's pronunciation, Bolong's size and Bolong's facts keep reading. Are you in search of other related articles? Then do check out our articles on Uteodon and Mantellisaurus.

How do you pronounce 'Bolong'?

Sometimes dinosaur names can be difficult to pronounce. The name of this species is quite easy and is pronounced as bo-long.

What type of dinosaur was a Bolong?

Bolong was an iguanodontian dinosaur.Iguanodontia was one of the earliest and well-known groups of dinosaurs which were defined by Paul Sereno, in 1998. This group of dinosaurs were herbivores and lived between the Middle Jurassic and Late Cretaceous periods.

In which geological period did the Bolong roam the earth?

They may have roamed the earth during the early cretaceous age also known as the lower cretaceous period. This time period was dominated by dinosaurs that survived the late Jurassic epoch. Several more new dinosaurs appeared throughout this time period. During this time, several southern continents were still connected, together known as Gondwana. Laurasia is a massive landmass created by northern continents. Many flora and fauna were shared by these two supercontinents.

When did the Bolong become extinct?

It was last sited during the early cretaceous period after which it has become extinct. There are many theories involving the extinction of species during the early cretaceous period. However, the Bolong dinosaur race must have become extinct due to the existence of larger predators which might have invaded the habitats of Bolong. They were at a higher risk of being hunted by these predators especially the young ones.

Where did Bolong live?

Bolong, also known as Bo's dragon, is a member of the Iguanodontidae family that would have inhabited the forest regions in a site at the Yixia Formation of western Liaoning Province, China during the Early Cretaceous Yixian.

What was the Bolong's habitat?

It was a herbivore, therefore it would have preferred areas with additional vegetation. It is thought to have lived in a mangrove site or an open savannah.

Who did Bolong live with?

Bolong would have fit in well as a gang, although not much content is available in the form of journals that could testify for the fact. They were small and were not particularly fast either. So they needed to stick together as a group to avoid predators. And the general rule is that herbivores forage in groups and are social while meat-eaters are often solitary. This also adds to the assumption that they lived in packs.

How long did a Bolong live?

Information on the lifespan of Bolong is not well known. The entire group may have existed throughout the Early Cretaceous period which was almost 122-145 million years ago.

How did they reproduce?

Through information gathered over the years, we know that just like all other dinosaur species that Bolong was also oviparous. The reproduction process of dinosaurs is easily comparable to the reproduction of a modern-day bird, involving the deposition of sperms, the fertilization of eggs, incubation, and hatching.

What did Bolong look like?

When compared to other dinosaurs in the family, this dinosaur is tiny and light. It possessed a convex, wide, and robust head. The jaw was powerful, and the teeth were large. The main ridge of the dental crowns bends at the tip of the teeth. They use the teeth to grind tough plant material. Some of the unique characteristics observed only in this species include a hollow at the common location of the lacrimal bone and upper jawbones. The Predentarium's front tip protrudes. It is clear from the juvenile fossil that the beak had a rounded tip, and the forelimbs and hind limbs were all short. Claws were tiny and not particularly sharp.

How many bones did a Bolong have?

Dinosaurs, in general, have about 200 of them. Larger dinosaurs may have a few additional bones as a result of evolution. Unfortunately, not much content is available regarding the exact number of bones that these ancient animals may have had.

How did they communicate?

In these dinosaurs, communication might have been both visual and audible. Iguantodons are known for making loud noises such as high-pitched growls and screeches. This dinosaur was no exception. It might possibly have utilized body movements to communicate messages. There is insufficient information on courtship behavior.

How big were the Bolongs?

This is one of the smallest members of the family. The Bolong size is around 13 ft (4 m) in length. It is slightly larger than the Microvenator and three times smaller than iguanodon, a famous member of the family.

How fast could a Bolong move?

Relevant information suggests that they were bipedal and despite having short forelimbs and hind limbs would have been able to move swiftly. The overall stature of this dinosaur was tiny and it was very light. This may have enabled them to move faster than their predators and most large and heavy dinosaurs.

How much did a Bolong weigh?

Based on the remains from the fossil site it is estimated that they weighed around 441 lb (200 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

The male and female species have not been given specific names. They are collectively called Bolong.

What would you call a baby Bolong?

A baby Bolong, immediately after it is hatched may be called a chick or hatching. A little later, after the hatching, it can be referred to as a juvenile.

What did they eat?

They were herbivores animals and their main food was leaves. Their diet also consisted of twigs, seeds, and other plant materials. They were frequently at the risk of being hunted by larger dinosaurs that preyed on small herbivores. Carcharodontosaurus in particular would have posed a significant threat as it was even capable of killing large sauropods.

How aggressive were they?

There is no reliable information about the dinosaur's nature. Many scientists, however, claim that they would not have been hostile or would have only been moderately violent on rare occasions. This conclusion was reached based on the tooth structure. The only use of their teeth was grinding plant materials and was incapable of causing great injury to others. Also, the claws were short and not put to use often, which indicates they were more concerned with fleeing rather than aggressively fighting. It had good vision and was able to see predators from a long distance.

Did you know...

As per the findings of PLoS one Ouranosaurus nigeriensis and Bolong yixianensis are closely related.

Why are they called Bolong?

Dinosaurs are named after their distinguishing body features or the site where they were discovered and after the person who discovered them. The latter is applied in the case of this species.

The generic name of this dinosaur was chosen in order to honor the discoverers who excavated the holotype, Bo Hiachen, and Bo Xue.Long means dragon in Chinese referring to its outlook. The species name alludes to the site where the holotype was discovered, Yixian Formation. It also refers to the city of Yixian where you can see the holotype.

How many specimens of Bolong were discovered?

Two different specimens have been discovered so far. The first specimen was named and described in 2010 by Wu Wen-hao, Pascal Godefroit, and Hu Dong-yu. In the year 2013, the second specimen was described which consisted of a mostly complete skeleton preserved two-dimensionally on a slab. The skull proportions which were short and deep along with the unfused neurocentral sutures in most preserved vertebrae indicate that the Bolong skeleton belonged to a juvenile. A farmer found this near the village of Xitaizhi in Inner Mongolia.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Dysalotosaurus facts and Callovosaurus facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Bolong dinosaur coloring pages.

Image one by Audrey.m.horn.

Image two by Godromil.

*We've been unable to source an image of Bolong and have used an image of Ouranosaurus nigeriensis instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of Bolong, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at [email protected].