Beipiaosaurus

Beipiaosaurus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 124.6 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Life restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Superfamily:	†Therizinosauroidea
Genus:	†Beipiaosaurus Xu, Tang & Wang, 1999
Species:	†B. inexpectus
Binomial name
Beipiaosaurus inexpectus Xu, Tang & Wang, 1999

Beipiaosaurus /ˌbeɪpjaʊˈsɔːrəs/ is a genus of therizinosauroid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. Before the discovery of Yutyrannus, it was among the largest dinosaurs known from direct evidence to be feathered.

The exact classification of therizinosaurs had in the past been hotly debated, since their prosauropod-like teeth and body structure indicate that they were generally herbivorous, unlike typical theropods. Beipiaosaurus, being considered to be a primitive therizinosauroid, has features which suggest that all therizinosauroids, including the more derived Therizinosauridae, to be coelurosaurian theropods, not sauropodomorph or ornithischian relatives as once believed.

In 1996, the peasant Li Yinxian discovered a skeleton of a theropod dinosaur near the village of Sihetun. In the May 27, 1999, issue of the journal Nature the discovery was announced and the type species Beipiaosaurus inexpectus named and described by Xu Xing, Tang Zhilu and Wang Xiaolin. The generic name Beipiaosaurus translates as "Beipiao lizard" after Beipiao, a city in China near the location of its discovery. Beipiaosaurus is known from a single species, B. inexpectus, the specific name, meaning "unexpected" in Latin, referring to "the surprising features in this animal".