NAME

Meaning - Leaellynasaura means “Leaellyn Rich’s lizard” - Leaellyn is the daughter of the paleontologists who discovered this dinosaur
Pronounced - Lee-ell-lin-ah-saw-rah
Named By - Thomas Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich
When Named - 1989
DIET

Herbivore (plant-eater)
SIZE

Length - 6.5 to 10 feet (2-3 m) long
Height - 2 ft (60 cm) tall at the hips
Weight - ?
WHEN IT LIVED

Middle Cretaceous period, about 106 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found in Dinosaur Cove, Victoria, Australia.
FOSSILS

Only an incomplete skeleton, teeth, and a fragmentary skull of a juvenile specimen have been 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
  • Family Hypsilophodontidae - with high-ridged teeth
  • Genus Leaellynasaura
  • Species L. amicagraphica (type species named by T. Rick and P. Rich, 1989)
INTERESTING FACTS

Leaellynasaura had a relatively large brain and good eyesight. Leaellynasaura lived in what is now Australia during the Cretaceous period, when Australia was within the Antarctic Circle and had long, dark winters. Leaellynasaura’s large eyes would have helped it find food in this relatively dark environment.
LINKS

A coloring/information Leaellynasaura printout.