Anasazisaurus
Anasazisaurus was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived about 74 million years ago. It had a short, bumpy crest on its nose that stuck up between its eyes. Only one skull has been found so far, so scientists are still learning about it.1
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Fun facts
The only known skull of Anasazisaurus is about 90 centimeters (35 inches) long.1
Its name comes from the Anasazi people, who lived in cliff dwellings near where the fossil was found.1
Anasazisaurus had a short, rough crest made from its nasal bones that folded back under itself.1
It lived alongside other dinosaurs like Parasaurolophus, Pentaceratops, and the tyrannosaur Bistahieversor.1
The skull was first thought to belong to a dinosaur called Kritosaurus, but later scientists gave it its own name.1
Most asked questions about Anasazisaurus
?How big was Anasazisaurus?
About 7.5 meters (25 feet) long and weighed up to 2,500 kilograms (5,500 pounds).1
?What did Anasazisaurus eat?
It was a plant-eater that ate leaves and other plants from the ground up to about 4 meters (13 feet) high.1
?Why did Anasazisaurus have a crest?
Scientists are not sure, but the short, bumpy crest on its nose may have been used for display or to tell it apart from other dinosaurs.1
?Is Anasazisaurus a dinosaur?
Yes, it is a duck-billed dinosaur called a hadrosaurid.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Anasazisaurus is the same dinosaur as Kritosaurus.
Truth: Some scientists think Anasazisaurus is a separate genus because of its unique nasal crest, but others consider it a species of Kritosaurus.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Anasazisaurus
- Named by
- Hunt and Lucas 19933
- Group
- Duck-bills
- Family / clade
- Hadrosauridae3
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Hadrosauridae3
- Age of the rocks
- 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
- Rock formations
- Kirtland3
- Countries
- USA3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- The skull was collected in the late 1970s by a Brigham Young University field party in New Mexico. It was named Anasazisaurus horneri by paleontologists Adrian Hunt and Spencer G. Lucas in 1993, honoring Jack Horner who first described it.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Anasazisaurus is a valid genus or should be considered a species of Kritosaurus.1
Where the facts come from
- Anasazisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Anasazisaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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Parasaurolophus
Edmontosaurus
Saurolophus
Hypacrosaurus
Corythosaurus
Kritosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Triceratops
Velociraptor
Spinosaurus
Ankylosaurus
Pteranodon