NAME

Meaning - Othnielia was named as a tribute to the paleontologist Othniel C. Marsh
Pronounced - OTH-NEE-lee-ah
Named By - Galton
When Named - 1977
DIET

Herbivore (plant-eater) - it ate soft, low-lying plants
SIZE

Length - 4 ft (1.1 m) long
Height - 1 ft (30 cm) tall at the hips
Weight - 50 pounds (22.5 kg)
WHEN IT LIVED

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

Fossils have been found in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, in the USA, North America.
FOSSILS

Partial skeletons plus some teeth 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 - bird-hipped dinosaurs
  • Suborder Ornithopoda
  • Family Hypsilophodontidae (gazelle-like, herbivorous, herding dinosaurs)
  • Genus Othnielia
  • Species O. rex (type species named by Marsh, 1877 - originally called Nanosaurus)
INTERESTING FACTS

Othnielia was a very small, fast-running, bipedal dinosaur.
LINKS

A detailed page on Othnielia.