Koreanosaurus

Say it: ko-REE-an-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Korean lizard”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Cretaceous

Koreanosaurus was a small, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now South Korea. It was about the size of a bicycle and might have dug burrows to live in.1

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Boseong, South Korea1

Food

Plants2 4

Length

2 to 2.4 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 5 house cats nose to tailas long as 13 bananas end to end

How big was Koreanosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Koreanosaurus was a type of orodromine dinosaur, a group that includes other small, fast-running herbivores.1

Scientists think Koreanosaurus may have been a burrowing dinosaur because small burrows were found in the same rocks.1

Unlike many of its relatives, Koreanosaurus probably walked on all four legs.1

The first fossils of Koreanosaurus were discovered in 2003 at the Bibong-ri dinosaur egg site in South Korea.1

Koreanosaurus lived during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, about 81 million years ago.1

Only one species of Koreanosaurus is known: Koreanosaurus boseongensis, named after the Boseong area where it was found.1

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

?How big was Koreanosaurus?

Koreanosaurus was a small dinosaur, about 2 to 2.4 metres (6.6 to 7.9 feet) long, roughly the size of a bicycle.1 3

?Did Koreanosaurus walk on two or four legs?

Unlike many of its relatives, Koreanosaurus probably walked on all four legs. Its sturdy front legs and shoulder bones are similar to those of digging animals today.1 3

?Could Koreanosaurus dig burrows?

Yes, scientists think Koreanosaurus likely dug burrows. Small burrows were found in the same rocks, and its arm bones look like those of modern digging animals.1 3

?What did Koreanosaurus eat?

Koreanosaurus ate plants. It was a herbivore that lived in what is now South Korea about 81 million years ago.3 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Koreanosaurus
Named by: Huh et al. 20114
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Thescelosauridae4
Classification: Ornithischia4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Seonso Conglomerate4
Countries: South Korea4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Koreanosaurus was first described in a 2008 master's thesis by Dae-Gil Lee, and officially named by Min Huh and colleagues in 2011.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Koreanosaurus was a burrower or not, but the presence of small burrows in the same rocks suggests it might have been.1

Where the facts come from

Koreanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Koreanosaurus Huh et al. 2011 - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
Koreanosaurus | Highlights Kids (highlightskids.com)
Koreanosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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