Fun Eotyrannus Facts For Kids

We all loved 'The Good Dinosaur' movie, it was wholesome! But would you like to read an article about a not-so-good dinosaur? Read on to learn interesting facts about a fierce dinosaur from the Cretaceous era. This article will not only tell you about its appearance and history, but also details about its habitat, range, when and where it was discovered, its size, weight, and length!

Eotyrannus is an extinct genus of Tyrannosauroid theropod dinosaur, that first occurred during the Early Cretaceous. This fascinating creature was unearthed from a plant debris clay bed present near the archaeological sites at the Wessex Formation, which is near the Southwest coast of the Isle of Wight, in the United Kingdom. The exact location of its discovery has been kept a secret, to avoid any unwanted crowd to the site as it would potentially lead to the destruction of the coastline. From, what little information was published it is known that the popular specimen was discovered by Gavin Leng and his colleague Steve Hutt, who worked at the old Museum of Isle of Wight. This species is quite popular and is known by the holotype specimen MIWG1997.550, which consists of partial or fragments of its skeleton, and a nearly complete skull. After its discovery, the specimen was carefully observed, studied, and researched for several years by scientists from the University of Portsmouth, with some help from paleontologists and researchers from the Natural History Museum. After observing and studying elements of its skeleton, Hutt stated that the fossils collected belonged to a juvenile or subadult dinosaur. Finally, in 2000-2001 i.e. five to six years after its discovery this dinosaur was named by Steve Hutt, and its name honors Gavin Leng. Read on to find a detailed physical description and habitat details of this dinosaur!

Learn about some other pre-historic creatures from our Europasaurus facts and Nipponosaurus facts pages.

How do you pronounce 'Eotyrannus'? 

The word Eotyrannus is pronounced as 'ee-oh-ti-ran-us'. Its name roughly translates to dawn tyrant or early tyrant!

What type of dinosaur was an Eotyrannus?

It was a Therapod dinosaur, belonging to the Animalia kingdom, the class Archosauria, the order Saurischia, suborder Theropoda, the infraorder Coelurosauria, and the Tyrannosauroidea family, which is popular for its predatory members with well-developed arms.

In which geological period did the Eotyrannus roam the earth?

These dinosaurs lived during the Middle Cretaceous period, around 120-125 million years ago.

When did the Eotyrannus become extinct?

These dinosaurs went extinct during the K-T mass extinction nearly 65 million years ago.

Where did an Eotyrannus live? 

Fossils of this dinosaur were recovered from the Wessex Formation, near the coast of Isle of Wight, in Great Britain, Europe. Thus, indicating that its distribution occurred in this region.

What was an Eotyrannus' habitat? 

This Theropod dinosaur follows a carnivore diet it never settled in one place and was often in search of new hunting grounds, its habitat changed according to its survival needs. They inhabited forests, lakesides, riversides, swamps, and floodplains. Research conducted on the fossils recovered from the Isle of Wight revealed that it lived in warm and humid climatic conditions, similar to the present-day Mediterranean, and the areas inhabited by it received rainfall seasonally, this was proved by studying the decayed plant materials or plant debris found in archeological sites of the Wessex Formation.

Who did an Eotyrannus live with?

The social behavior of an Eotyrannus dinosaur has not been researched enough, but given that they were carnivores they probably preferred living alone to avoid competition for food and other survival resources.

How long did an Eotyrannus live?

The life span of this pre-historic animal is unknown however, Therapods, in general, were believed to have a life span of 26 or 32 years.

How did they reproduce?

Just like every other Theropod dinosaur, they reproduced via sexual reproduction. Males would release their sperm inside females, who would later lay fertilized eggs containing developing dinosaur embryos in nests, which were built by digging burrows in the soil. The eggs were enormous and had a hard layered shell. The eggs most probably were amniotic, meaning the fetus was covered by a membrane which helped in its protection as well as supplying oxygen and other nutrients to the fetus.

What did an Eotyrannus look like?

Fossil remains of this dinosaur revealed that E. lengi was a medium to large-sized Theropod, and had physical characteristics similar to that of a Tyrannosaurs e.g. elongate tibiae and metatarsals. The primitive features among all members of the Tyrannosauroidea family are well-developed arms, elongate neck vertebrae, undecorated skull (especially near the dorsal area). This dinosaur had sharp claws, bumpy scaled skin, and looked quite intimidating.

How many bones did an Eotyrannus have?

Fossil remains of this dinosaur recovered from the Isle of Wight consist of fragments of its skeleton, a partial skull, vertebrae of its neck, back, and tail, its shoulder girdle, parts of the pelvis, metacarpals, carpal, and some phalanges, and few dentary bones. After further studies conducted on several elements of its axial and appendicular skeleton, it was revealed that the bones found belonged to a subadult or juvenile dinosaur.

How did they communicate?

Communication among these dinosaurs is still a mystery but many scientists over the past decades have come up with several theories that suggest possible ways these animals communicated, some put forth the theory of vocalizations and that these ferocious beasts engaged in dialogue by producing calls, hoots, cracking sounds, body movements, and symbolic love calls during the mating season.

How big was an Eotyrannus? 

Curious about an Eotyrannus' size (Eotyrannus' length)? Well, it grew up to 15 ft (4.5 m) in length!

How fast could an Eotyrannus move?

The exact speed rate of these dinosaurs is unknown. However, they are known to be advanced theropods, and great fast-running predators, or hunters, thus, many believe that they had an incredible speed.

How much did an Eotyrannus weigh?

It weighed around 200-500 lb (91-227 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

Females are called saura, whereas males are called saurus.

What would you call a baby Eotyrannus?

A young dinosaur can be referred to as a hatchling.

What did they eat? 

Eotyrannus lengi were meat-eating dinosaurs and followed a carnivorous diet. They preyed on almost every animal, smaller dinosaurs, and young hatchings. An Eotyrannus' talon or claw, discovered from the Isle of Wight was sharp and suitable for hunting any animal.

How aggressive were they?

Eotyrannus lengi dinosaurs are considered to be among the fiercest predators to have ever lived on Earth.

Did you know...

The origins of dinosaur discovery probably go back hundreds of years or more with bones found by Chinese farmers, and elsewhere in the world where agriculture or landslides disturbed the soil.

How many teeth did the Eotyrannus have?

The total number of dentary bones present in this pre-historic animal is unknown however, it had serrated premaxillary teeth with a D cross-section.

What does Eotyrannus mean?

This word is derived from Greek and translates to ‘dawn tyrant’, the specific name 'lengi' honors Gavin Leng, who discovered these dinosaurs that belong to the order Saurischia, and the suborder Theropoda.

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 Dracoraptor facts and Elaphrosaurus facts for kids.

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

Main image by Krugerr.

Second image by Bardrock.