Dino card No. 0279 of 2,027

Blikanasaurus

Say it: BLIK-an-ah-SORE-us

Name means: “lizard from Blikana”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Triassic

Blikanasaurus was a thick, heavy dinosaur that lived in South Africa during the Late Triassic. It walked on all four legs and was an early relative of the giant long-necked sauropods. Scientists only know it from a few leg bones, so it is still a bit of a mystery.1

Lived

227 to 201 million years ago5

Late Triassic

Fossils found in

South Africa, in the Eastern Cape and Free State provinces1 2

Food

Plants2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Blikanasaurus is only known from a few hindlimb bones, including a partial foot and leg, found at the foot of Blikana Mountain.1

Its leg bones were very thick and heavy, suggesting Blikanasaurus was a sturdy, robust dinosaur that probably walked on all fours.1

Blikanasaurus lived about 210 million years ago, during the Late Triassic period.1

The species name cromptoni honors American paleontologist A.W. 'Fuzz' Crompton, who led many fossil hunts in South Africa.1

Some scientists think Blikanasaurus belongs to its own family called Blikanasauridae, but this is not widely accepted.1

AI-made picture of Blikanasaurus — An AI-made picture of how Blikanasaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Blikanasaurus

?How big was Blikanasaurus?

Nobody knows for sure because only a few leg bones have been found. The bones are thick and heavy, so it was a sturdy, robust dinosaur, but its exact size is unknown.1

?What did Blikanasaurus eat?

Blikanasaurus was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It is a sauropodomorph, a group of long-necked dinosaurs that mostly ate plants.3

?When did Blikanasaurus live?

Blikanasaurus lived about 210 million years ago, during the Late Triassic period.1

?Where was Blikanasaurus found?

Blikanasaurus was found in South Africa, near Blikana Mountain in the Eastern Cape and also in the Eastern Free State.1 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Blikanasaurus
Named by: Galton and Van Heerden 19855
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Sauropodiformes5
Classification: Sauropodomorpha5
Age of the rocks: 227 to 201 million years (Norian / Rhaetian)5
Rock formations: Elliot5
Countries: South Africa5
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Blikanasaurus was named in 1985 by Peter Galton and Jacques Van Heerden. The first fossils were found around 1965 at the foot of Blikana Mountain in South Africa.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how Blikanasaurus is related to other dinosaurs. Some think it is a very early sauropod, while others place it as a more primitive sauropodomorph.1

Where the facts come from

Blikanasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
BLIKANASAURUS - DinoChecker dinosaur archive (dinochecker.com)
wiredspace.wits.ac.za (wiredspace.wits.ac.za)
Blikanasaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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