Dino card No. 0721 of 2,027

Glacialisaurus

Say it: GLAY-see-ah-SORE-us

Name means: “frozen lizard”1 4

Ate: PlantsLong-necksEarly Jurassic

Glacialisaurus was a long-necked dinosaur that lived in Antarctica during the Early Jurassic. It walked on two legs and munched on plants with its leaf-shaped teeth. This dinosaur was one of the first big plant-eaters to browse on high tree leaves.1

Lived

200 to 184 million years ago4

Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

Mount Kirkpatrick, Beardmore Glacier, Antarctica4 1

Food

Plants1

Length

6.2 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 34 bananas end to end

How big was Glacialisaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Glacialisaurus was discovered by a team led by paleontologist William R. Hammer in 1990 to 91 during an expedition to the Transantarctic Mountains.1

This dinosaur lived about 186 to 182 million years ago, during the Early Jurassic period.1

Only a few leg bones have been found: a partial left thigh bone and a right ankle with foot bones.1 2

Glacialisaurus was a massospondylid, a group of medium-sized early sauropodomorphs that lived on every continent except Australia.1 4

The fossils were found about 650 kilometres (400 miles) from the South Pole, and the area may have had forests even along the coast.1

The same rock formation also yielded the large meat-eater Cryolophosaurus and other dinosaurs.1

AI-made picture of Glacialisaurus — An AI-made picture of how Glacialisaurus 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 Glacialisaurus

?How big was Glacialisaurus?

Glacialisaurus was about 6.2 metres (20 feet) long, based on estimates from its leg bones.1 2

?What did Glacialisaurus eat?

It was a herbivore, eating plants with its leaf-shaped teeth, likely including high tree leaves.1

?Where was Glacialisaurus found?

Its fossils were found in Antarctica, in the Hanson Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains, about 650 km from the South Pole.1 3

?When did Glacialisaurus live?

It lived during the Early Jurassic, about 186 to 182 million years ago.1

?Was Glacialisaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, it was a sauropodomorph dinosaur, a type of long-necked plant-eater.1

?Did Glacialisaurus live in the cold?

It lived in Antarctica when it was warmer and had forests, though it experienced months of darkness and daylight.3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Glacialisaurus
Named by: Smith and Pol 20074
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Massospondylidae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha4
Age of the rocks: 200 to 184 million years (Sinemurian / Pliensbachian)4
Rock formations: Hanson4
Countries: Antarctica4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Glacialisaurus was named by Nathan Smith and Diego Pol in 2007. They based it on leg bones collected by William R. Hammer's team from Antarctica in 1990 to 91.1 2 4
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly where Glacialisaurus fits in the dinosaur family tree because the fossils are so few.1 2

Where the facts come from

Glacialisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Anatomy of a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of Antarctica - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica (app.pan.pl)
Glacialisaurus - Field Museum (fieldmuseum.org)
Glacialisaurus 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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