Muttaburrasaurus
regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Sauropsida | superordo = Dinosauria | ordo = Ornithischia | subordo = Ornithopoda | infraordo = Iguanodontia | familia = Rhabdodontidae | genus = Muttaburrasaurus | species = M. langdoni | binomial = Muttaburrasaurus langdoni
Muttaburrasaurus was a large four-legged (quadrupedal) ornithopod herbivorous dinosaur genus that was capable of rearing onto two legs (bipedal). It was similar to Iguanodon, in that the three middle digits of the fore limb were joined together into a hoof-like pad for walking on.
The species is known from one partial skeleton, found at Muttaburra, Queensland, Australia, which place also provides the creature's name.
Muttaburrasaurus had very powerful jaws equipped with shearing teeth. These were probably an adaptation for eating tough vegetation such as cycads. It also had an enlarged, hollow, upward-bulging muzzle that might have been used to produce distinctive calls or for display purposes. However, as no fossilised nasal tissue has been found, this remains conjectural.Muttaburrasaurus appeared on the fifth episode of Walking with Dinosaurs.* BBC Science and Nature: Prehistoric Life
* Muttaburrasaurus, by T. Michael Keesey from the Dinosauricon. (cladogram, illustrations)
* Muttaburrasaurus langdoni, from Dann's Dinosaurs. (article)
|
