NAME

Meaning - Muttaburrasaurus means “Muttaburra [in Queensland, Australia] lizard”
Pronounced - mutt-ah-BUHR-ah-SAWR-us
Named By - Ralph E. Molinar and Alan Bartholomai
When Named - 1981
DIET

Muttaburrasaurus was primarily an herbivore (plant-eater), but may have also eatern some meat.
SIZE

Length - 24 feet (7 m) long
Height - ?
Weight - 1-4 tons
WHEN IT LIVED

Middle Cretaceous period, about 113-97.5 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found by the Thompson River, Muttaburra, central Queensland, Australia.
FOSSILS

Two fragmentary Muttaburrasaurus skeletons were found by Doug Langdon in 1963. Another crushed skull was found later in north-central Queensland, by Mary Wade.
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 Muttaburrasaurus
  • Species M. langdoni (type species named by Ralph E. Molinar and Alan Bartholomai, 1981)
INTERESTING FACTS

Muttaburrasaurus had a large bulge on its long snout between its eyes and its mouth, a beak, a flattened thumb spike, hoof-like claws, and teeth that worked like shears. The bony bump on its snout may have been associated with its sense of smell or its ability to make sounds. It could probably walk on two or four legs.
LINKS

A coloring printout page on Muttaburrasaurus.