Cariocecus

Say it: KAR-ee-oh-SEE-kus

Name means: “named after the Iberian war god Cariocecus”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersEarly Cretaceous

Cariocecus was a medium-sized plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Portugal. It had a bony brow over its eye that made it look like an eagle, and its upper jaw bones were fused together to help it chew tough plants.1

Lived

126 to 121 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Praia do Areia do Mastro, Sesimbra, Portugal3 1

Food

Plants3 1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Cariocecus is the first iguanodontian skull ever found in Portugal.1

The skull of Cariocecus was about 45 centimetres (18 inches) long, and the animal was not fully grown when it died.2

Its maxilla and jugal bones were completely fused together, which is unique among all ornithopods.1

Cariocecus had a large bony brow over its eye that may have protected it from sun glare and injury.1

Scientists used micro-CT scanning to study the inside of the skull, including the brain and inner ear.2

Cariocecus lived alongside the spinosaurid Iberospinus and other dinosaurs in a shallow coastal environment.1

The fossil was discovered in 2016 by Pedro Marrecas and was named in 2025.1

AI-made picture of Cariocecus — An AI-made picture of how Cariocecus 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.

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Cariocecus
Named by: Bertozzo et al. 20253
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Hadrosauroidea3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia3
Age of the rocks: 126 to 121 million years (Barremian)3
Rock formations: Papo Seco3
Countries: Portugal3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The only known skull was found in 2016 by Pedro Marrecas in a limestone outcrop in Portugal. It was named Cariocecus bocagei in 2025 by Filippo Bertozzo and colleagues.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how large Cariocecus grew, because the only known fossil is from a young individual.1

Where the facts come from

Cariocecus bocagei (en.wikipedia.org)
Cariocecus bocagei, a new basal hadrosauroid from the Lower Cretaceous of Portugal: Journal of Systematic Palaeontology: Vol 23, No 1 (tandfonline.com)
Cariocecus 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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