NAME

Meaning - Dryosaurus means “Oak tree lizard”
Pronounced - dry-oh-SAWR-us
Named By - Othniel Marsh
When Named - 1894
DIET

Herbivore (plant-eater) - Dryosaurus probably ate conifers, cycads, and ginkgos.
SIZE

Length - 10 feet (3 m) long
Height - 5 ft (1.7 m) tall at the hips
Weight - 170-200 pounds (77-90 kg)
WHEN IT LIVED

Late Jurassic period, about 156 to 145 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, USA (North America) and Tanzania (Africa).
FOSSILS

Many fossils have found.
CLASSIFICATION
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Ornithischia - beaked, bird-hipped dinosaurs that were plant-eaters
  • Suborder Ornithopoda
  • Infraorder Iguanodontia - having spiked thumbs
  • Genus Dryosaurus
  • Species D. altus (type species named by Marsh, 1878; originally called Laosaurus)
INTERESTING FACTS

Dryosaurus may have stored food in its cheeks. Dryosaurus had a long neck and a stiff tail used for balance. It had large eyes, long, thin legs with three toes, and short arms with five long fingers. It had a horny beak, a toothless upper front jaw, and self-sharpening cheek teeth.
LINKS

A detailed page on Dryosaurus.