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EXHIBIT 180

Xiongguanlong

Xiongguanlong baimoensis

Xiongguanlong had a remarkably long, shallow snout and several skeletal features later seen in giant tyrannosaurids. [2]

Evidence profile

TWO WAYS TO PICTURE THE PAST

Compare the evidence with the familiar movie image. The illustrations are not to a shared scale.

01 / SKELETAL RECONSTRUCTION

A framework from the fossils

Xiongguanlong baimoensis skeletal reconstruction: known bones white, missing regions grey.

Xiongguanlong baimoensis reconstruction by DefinitelyNOTDilophosaurus, based on type FRDC-GSJB16-2-1. White marks known bones and grey completes missing regions through comparisons. The skull is restored from deformation; lower jaws, hands, feet and much of the tail are hypothetical. The artist’s scale is part of a whole-body reconstruction, not a measurement of a complete fossil or an adult species maximum. [1]

Xiongguanlong Skeletal.png · DefinitelyNOTDilophosaurus. CC BY 4.0. Current licensed Commons image converted to WebP and proportionally reduced for the thumbnail, without upsampling. No additional cropping, mirroring, anatomical edits or compositing. Existing source restoration and scale annotations retained. CC BY 4.0 applies to these versions.

Skeletal mounts and drawings may restore missing parts; the caption identifies the displayed material.

02 / MOVIE-STYLE INTERPRETATION

A cinematic imagination

Illustrative reconstruction of Xiongguanlong baimoensis; missing anatomy, covering and colors are hypotheses.

Original cinematic interpretation of Xiongguanlong. The long shallow skull guides this interpretation; missing lower jaw and hands are comparative. Covering, full proportions and living pose remain artistic reconstructions. Lighting, colors and scenery are artistic choices; this image does not document directly observed behavior. Lighting, coloration and scenery are artistic choices. This image does not document a fossil locality or behavior.

Original artwork · artistic interpretation.

Scientific view: source-informed reconstruction, credited paleoart or specimen-based imagery. Movie-style view: Original artistic interpretation. Reconstructions involve uncertainty.

PERIODEarly Cretaceous[1]
DIETCarnivoreEvidence and uncertainty in the dossier
TOTAL LENGTHSee the dossierEstimate scope matters
FOSSILS FOUNDChina[1]
CompareRead the dossierView the sources

MEET THE ANIMAL

Meet Xiongguanlong

Xiongguanlong was an Early Cretaceous tyrannosauroid from China with an elongated, shallow snout and serrated teeth. Its anatomy supports a carnivorous interpretation, but no particular prey preference is established. The Australian Museum reconstructs a length of about five metres. That is a general whole-body reference with no specified reconstruction method, rather than a separately verified adult length. [D2]

Its discovery helped fill a gap between small early members of the tyrannosaur family tree and the giant forms familiar from later in the Cretaceous. Fossils from these intermediate parts of the record help researchers compare how anatomy changed. Being useful for that comparison does not prove that the individual dinosaur was a direct ancestor of Tyrannosaurus. [D3]

A broad family-tree analysis recognized Xiongguanlong separately from other early tyrannosauroids and placed it outside Tyrannosauridae, the family of the later giants. Related animals can share ancestry while retaining distinct genus identities. The evolutionary relationship provides context for its unusual head, without turning every earlier tyrannosauroid into the same animal or giving them identical diets and behaviors. [D4]

PREHISTORIC ANIMAL DOSSIER

A life in profile.

The animal, the evidence, and the questions still open.

Its Early Cretaceous remains help sample the evolutionary gap between small early tyrannosauroids and their giant later relatives. [D3]

Profile scope: Genus — Xiongguanlong; X. baimoensis, type FRDC-GSJB16-2-1. Missing lower jaws, hands and feet remain comparative restorations. [D1]

Time
Early Cretaceous
Fossil locations in this exhibit
China
How to read the evidence

Source supported identifies a description documented by the cited source. Inferred marks a reconstruction or functional estimate. Debated marks competing interpretations. Not established means the sources reviewed for this dossier do not support a firm conclusion; it does not mean a behavior never occurred.

A size reference is an estimate, not a population range. Nesting evidence does not by itself establish courtship, mate choice, or lifelong pairing.

Body length

Inferred

About 5 m (museum reconstruction)

Educational whole-body estimate with reconstruction method unspecified. A separately established adult length reference is unavailable here. [D2]

Body mass

Inferred

About 272 kg (limb regression)

Original model for FRDC-GSJB16-2-1. Nearly closed neurocentral sutures suggest it was close to fully grown; this is an individual estimate. [D1]

Diet and feeding

Inferred

Carnivory inferred

Serrated teeth support animal feeding. The long, shallow skull differs from giant tyrannosaurid heads; exact prey preferences remain uncertain. [D2]

Habitat and setting

Source supported

Xinminpu Group, Gansu

Grey mudstone at White Ghost Castle in the Yujingzi Basin; probable Aptian–Albian, with precise stratigraphic correlation qualified in the original paper. [D1]

Movement

Inferred

Two-legged reconstruction

The preserved femur and theropod comparisons support terrestrial bipedality. Hands, feet and much of the tail are reconstructed; no running speed is established. [D1]

Recognizable anatomy

Source supported

Elongated snout; smooth nasal bones

The preorbital region exceeds two-thirds of skull length. Its shallow snout lacks the strongly vaulted nasal architecture of giant tyrannosaurids. [D1]

Reproduction & life together

Reproduction and nesting

Not established

Not established here

Near-complete neurocentral closure informs growth status, rather than breeding age. No inspected eggs, nests or reproductive tissues establish parental behavior. [D1]

Mating and courtship

Not established

Not established here

A smooth, elongated snout is preserved. No reviewed specimen sample tests sex differences, display behavior or mate choice. [D2]

Social behavior

Not established

Not established here

The described type is a partial individual, without a demonstrated group assemblage. Focused searches found no genus-specific social evidence. [D1]

Dossier research & sources

Sources and inspection notes for the claims in this profile.

  1. A longirostrine tyrannosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China (Li et al., online 2009; issue 2010)Proceedings of the Royal Society B · Accessed 2026-10-02Full original material, skull anatomy, locality and maturity/mass sections inspected. FRDC-GSJB16-2-1: skull without mandibles, presacral vertebrae, partial ilium and femur. Grey mudstone of Xinminpu Group, White Ghost Castle, Yujingzi Basin, Gansu; probable Aptian–Albian. Main text gives 272 kg using Christiansen–Fariña 2004 equation, with near-complete neurocentral closure suggesting close to fully grown. No observed full-body length. · Inspected: page
  2. Dinosaur — Xiongguanlong baimoensis (Australian Museum)Australian Museum · Accessed 2026-10-02Full institutional fact sheet inspected: approximately 5 m educational reconstruction, elongated snout, serrated teeth and predatory interpretation. Unpreserved forelimb claims and unsupported prey specialization are not treated as observations. · Inspected: page
  3. Tyrannosaur Relatives of SUE (Field Museum, 2017)Field Museum · Accessed 2026-10-02Full institutional Xiongguanlong section inspected: discovery by Li et al., including Field Museum researcher Makovicky, fills an earlier gap in tyrannosauroid history. This evolutionary context does not provide a new adult size or direct behavior. · Inspected: page
  4. The phylogeny and evolutionary history of tyrannosauroid dinosaurs (Brusatte and Carr, 2016)Scientific Reports · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full summary and phylogenetic sections inspected. Separately recognizes Guanlong, Proceratosaurus, Dilong and Xiongguanlong; Xiongguanlong is outside Tyrannosauridae. Relatedness does not imply whole-genus synonymy. · Inspected: page

THE STORY IN THE FOSSILS

An elongated snout before tyrannosaur giants.

The discovery supplied an intermediate part of the tyrannosauroid fossil record. It helps reconstruct evolutionary relationships without proving a direct ancestor of Tyrannosaurus. [3] [4]

Its family-tree position is distinct from the later tyrannosaurid radiation. A shared ancestry does not make the genus interchangeable with those giant predators. [4]

A note on scale and time

The dossier identifies the scope of each reference estimate. A mount, an individual fossil and a species-wide adult range are different measurements. Comparison metrics remain unavailable where adult scope has not been established. Unknown does not mean zero.

Sources & editorial notes

Sources support the stated claims and scopes. Refer to the evidence notes for uncertainty.

  1. A longirostrine tyrannosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China (Li et al., online 2009; issue 2010)Proceedings of the Royal Society B · Accessed 2026-10-02Full original material, skull anatomy, locality and maturity/mass sections inspected. FRDC-GSJB16-2-1: skull without mandibles, presacral vertebrae, partial ilium and femur. Grey mudstone of Xinminpu Group, White Ghost Castle, Yujingzi Basin, Gansu; probable Aptian–Albian. Main text gives 272 kg using Christiansen–Fariña 2004 equation, with near-complete neurocentral closure suggesting close to fully grown. No observed full-body length. · Inspected: page
  2. Dinosaur — Xiongguanlong baimoensis (Australian Museum)Australian Museum · Accessed 2026-10-02Full institutional fact sheet inspected: approximately 5 m educational reconstruction, elongated snout, serrated teeth and predatory interpretation. Unpreserved forelimb claims and unsupported prey specialization are not treated as observations. · Inspected: page
  3. Tyrannosaur Relatives of SUE (Field Museum, 2017)Field Museum · Accessed 2026-10-02Full institutional Xiongguanlong section inspected: discovery by Li et al., including Field Museum researcher Makovicky, fills an earlier gap in tyrannosauroid history. This evolutionary context does not provide a new adult size or direct behavior. · Inspected: page
  4. The phylogeny and evolutionary history of tyrannosauroid dinosaurs (Brusatte and Carr, 2016)Scientific Reports · Accessed 2026-10-02Original full summary and phylogenetic sections inspected. Separately recognizes Guanlong, Proceratosaurus, Dilong and Xiongguanlong; Xiongguanlong is outside Tyrannosauridae. Relatedness does not imply whole-genus synonymy. · Inspected: page

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