Nanosaurus
Nanosaurus was a tiny, speedy plant-eater that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic. It ran on two long legs, had short arms, and was one of the smallest dinosaurs in its neighborhood.1
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Fun facts
Nanosaurus had thin, bony plates along its ribs, called intercostal plates, which helped it breathe or store energy.1
This dinosaur was only about 2 to 2.2 metres (6.6 to 7.2 feet) long and weighed as little as 20 to 30 kilograms (44 to 66 pounds).1
Nanosaurus lived alongside giants like Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Brachiosaurus in the Morrison Formation.1
Scientists once thought Nanosaurus was several different dinosaurs, including Drinker and Othnielosaurus, but now they think it was just one species.1
Nanosaurus had short, broad hands with short fingers, and a small head.1
It lived in a semiarid environment with wet and dry seasons, full of ferns, cycads, and conifer forests.1
Most asked questions about Nanosaurus
?How big was Nanosaurus?
About 2 to 2.2 metres (6.6 to 7.2 feet) long and weighed 20 to 30 kilograms (44 to 66 pounds).1
?What did Nanosaurus eat?
It was a herbivore that ate a variety of plants, using its leaf-shaped cheek teeth to chew.12
?When did Nanosaurus live?
It lived about 155 to 148 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period.1
?Where was Nanosaurus found?
Its fossils come from the Morrison Formation in the south-western United States, especially Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.1
?Was Nanosaurus a dinosaur?
Yes, it was a small neornithischian dinosaur, not a pterosaur or marine reptile.1
?Could Nanosaurus run fast?
It was a swift bipedal dinosaur with long legs, built for running, though no exact speed is known.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Nanosaurus
- Named by
- Marsh 18773
- Group
- Beaked plant-eaters
- Family / clade
- Neornithischia3
- Classification
- Ornithischia3
- Age of the rocks
- 158 to 143 million years ()3
- Rock formations
- Morrison3
- Countries
- USA3
- Fossil records
- 32 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Also known as
- Drinker, Othnielosaurus (older names now counted as the same animal)3
- Discovery
- Othniel Charles Marsh named Nanosaurus in 1877 from fossils found in Colorado. The name means 'small lizard'.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Nanosaurus was an omnivore that sometimes ate meat, or a strict herbivore.1
Where the facts come from
- Nanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Nanosaurus - Thomas Henry Huxley Paleozoological Gardens (hpz.zhejiangopterus.org)
- Nanosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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