Dyslocosaurus
Dyslocosaurus was a long-necked sauropod that lived during the Late Jurassic Period. It had many claws on its feet, maybe four or five, which is unusual for a sauropod. Its name means 'hard-to-place lizard' because scientists were not sure where it came from.1
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Fun facts
Dyslocosaurus may have had four or five claws on each foot, while most other diplodocid sauropods had only three.1
The only known fossil of Dyslocosaurus is a set of limb bones kept at the Amherst College Museum of Natural History.1
Scientists are not sure how old the Dyslocosaurus fossils are. They might be from the Late Jurassic or possibly from the Late Cretaceous.1
Some scientists think the foot bones with many claws might not belong to the same animal as the leg bones, so Dyslocosaurus might not have had extra claws after all.1
Dyslocosaurus was named in 1992 by John Stanton McIntosh, William Coombs, and Dale Russell.1
The species name polyonychius means 'many claws' in Greek.1
Most asked questions about Dyslocosaurus
?What did Dyslocosaurus eat?
Dyslocosaurus was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It lived on the ground and was actively mobile.5
?How big was Dyslocosaurus?
Scientists estimate it was between 10 and 20 metres long, but they do not know the exact size. It was a sauropod, so it had a long neck and tail.5
?When did Dyslocosaurus live?
It lived during the Late Jurassic Period, about 154 to 143 million years ago. Some scientists think the fossils might be from the Late Cretaceous instead.51
?Where was Dyslocosaurus found?
The only fossil was found in Wyoming, North America. It was collected by professor Frederic Brewster Loomis and is kept at the Amherst College Museum of Natural History.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Dyslocosaurus definitely had four or five claws on its feet.
Truth: The foot bone with many claws may belong to a different animal, so scientists are not sure if Dyslocosaurus really had extra claws.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Dyslocosaurus
- Named by
- Mcintosh et al. 19925
- Group
- Long-necks
- Family / clade
- Dicraeosauridae5
- Classification
- Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea5
- Age of the rocks
- 155 to 143 million years (Kimmeridgian / Tithonian)5
- Rock formations
- Morrison5
- Countries
- USA5
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- The only known Dyslocosaurus fossil was collected by professor Frederic Brewster Loomis, but its exact location is unknown. In 1992, John Stanton McIntosh, William Coombs, and Dale Russell named it Dyslocosaurus polyonychius.1
- Still debated
- Scientists debate whether Dyslocosaurus lived in the Late Jurassic or the Late Cretaceous, and whether it really had more than three claws on its feet.1
Where the facts come from
- Dyslocosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Dyslocosaurus Mcintosh et al. 1992 - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
- Dyslocosaurus polyonychius | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
- Dyslocosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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