Anchiornis vs Argentinosaurus

A detailed side-by-side comparison of Anchiornis and Argentinosaurus, covering size, diet, classification, geologic period, and discovery history.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Property Anchiornis Argentinosaurus
Scientific Name Anchiornis huxleyi Argentinosaurus huinculensis
Classification Theropoda Sauropoda
Period Jurassic Late Cretaceous Late
Diet Insectivore Herbivore
Length 0.4 m 35.0 m
Height 0.2 m 12.0 m
Weight 0 kg 70.0 t
Discovery Year 2009 1993
Discovery Location Tiaojishan Formation, China Neuquen Province, Argentina
Named By Xu Xing et al. Jose Bonaparte & Rodolfo Coria

Size Comparison

Anchiornis 0.4 m

smaller than a human child

Argentinosaurus 35.0 m

as long as 3 school buses

Weight Comparison

Anchiornis 0 kg

lighter than a human adult

Argentinosaurus 70.0 t

heavier than 12 African elephants

Timeline Comparison

Anchiornis
161.5 Mya Jurassic Late (Mesozoic) 145.0 Mya
Argentinosaurus
100.5 Mya Cretaceous Late (Mesozoic) 66.0 Mya

Diet Comparison

Anchiornis

Insectivore

Anchiornis primarily fed on insects and other small invertebrates.

Argentinosaurus

Herbivore

Argentinosaurus was a plant-eater, feeding on vegetation like ferns, conifers, and cycads.

Classification Comparison

Anchiornis

Clade: Saurischia

Group: Theropoda

(Beast feet)

Argentinosaurus

Clade: Sauropodomorpha

Group: Sauropoda

(Lizard feet)

Did You Know?

💡

Argentinosaurus was about 87.5x longer than Anchiornis.

💡

Argentinosaurus weighed roughly 700000x more than Anchiornis.

💡

Anchiornis was a insectivore while Argentinosaurus was a herbivore.

💡

Anchiornis lived during the Jurassic Late while Argentinosaurus lived during the Cretaceous Late, separated by roughly 44 million years.

💡

Argentinosaurus was discovered 16 years earlier, in 1993.

💡

Anchiornis belonged to Theropoda while Argentinosaurus belonged to Sauropoda.

Explore These Dinosaurs