Albalophosaurus
Albalophosaurus was a small, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Japan during the Early Cretaceous. It had a beak and cheek teeth for chewing tough plants. Scientists are not sure if it was a horned dinosaur or a relative of duck-billed dinosaurs.15
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Fun facts
Albalophosaurus is known from only one partial skull and lower jaw, found in 1997 by Yoshinori Kobayashi.1
The name Albalophosaurus means 'white crest lizard' and refers to the snow-covered peak of Mount Hakusan in Japan.1
The exact age of the rocks where Albalophosaurus was found is uncertain, but they are likely from the Valanginian to Hauterivian stages of the Early Cretaceous, about 136 to 130 million years ago.1
Scientists disagree on whether Albalophosaurus was a ceratopsian (horned dinosaur) or a relative of ornithopods (duck-billed dinosaurs).1
The holotype specimen is thought to be from a juvenile individual because the skull bones are not fully fused.1
Most asked questions about Albalophosaurus
?How big was Albalophosaurus?
About 1.3 metres long (4.3 feet) and its skull was about 10 centimetres long (4 inches). That is about the size of a large dog.3
?What did Albalophosaurus eat?
It was a plant-eater. It had a beak and cheek teeth for chewing tough plants, and its teeth had ridges and tiny serrations for grinding food.13
?When did Albalophosaurus live?
It lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 136 to 130 million years ago (Valanginian to Hauterivian stages). The exact age is uncertain because there are no index fossils.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Albalophosaurus
- Named by
- Ohashi and Barrett 20095
- Group
- Horned dinos
- Family / clade
- Ceratopsia5
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ceratopsia5
- Age of the rocks
- 126 to 121 million years (Barremian)5
- Rock formations
- Kuwajima5
- Countries
- Japan5
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- Albalophosaurus was named in 2009 by T. Ohashi and P. M. Barrett based on a partial skull found in 1997 in the Kuwajima Formation of Japan. The species name honors Ichio Yamaguchi and Mikiko Yamaguchi, who helped collect fossils at the site.15
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating whether Albalophosaurus was a ceratopsian (horned dinosaur), a pachycephalosaurian, or something else entirely.1
Where the facts come from
- Albalophosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Albalophosaurus Ohashi & Barrett 2009 - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
- 新種化石06「桑島化石壁産出の恐竜化石に学名がつきました」｜白山市公式ホームページ (city.hakusan.lg.jp)
- Albalophosaurus yamaguchiorum | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
- Albalophosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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