Krzyzanowskisaurus

Say it: shuh-ZAN-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “Stan Krzyżanowski's lizard”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Triassic

Krzyzanowskisaurus was a small, plant-eating reptile that lived during the Late Triassic period. It is known only from its teeth, which have a special ridge called a cingulum that might mean it was an early relative of dinosaurs like Stegosaurus and Triceratops.1

Lived

237 to 206 million years ago2

Late Triassic

Fossils found in

Arizona and New Mexico, USA1 2

Food

Plants2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Krzyzanowskisaurus is known only from its teeth, not from any bones or skeletons.1

Its teeth have a special ridge called a cingulum, which is a feature seen in early ornithischian dinosaurs.1

Scientists are not sure if Krzyzanowskisaurus was a true dinosaur or a close relative called a pseudosuchian.1

The name was changed from Revueltosaurus hunti in 2005 because the teeth looked different from other Revueltosaurus fossils.1

Its teeth are used as index fossils to help date rocks from the St. Johnsian land-vertebrate faunachron.1

AI-made picture of Krzyzanowskisaurus — An AI-made picture of how Krzyzanowskisaurus 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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Myth buster

Myth: Krzyzanowskisaurus is definitely a dinosaur.

Truth: Some scientists think it might not be a dinosaur at all, but a pseudosuchian reptile, because its teeth are similar to those of Revueltosaurus, which is not a dinosaur.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Krzyzanowskisaurus
Named by: Heckert 20052
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Ornithischia2
Classification: Ornithischia2
Age of the rocks: 237 to 206 million years (Carnian / Norian)2
Rock formations: Chinle2
Countries: USA2
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: The teeth were first described by Heckert in 2002 as Revueltosaurus hunti, but in 2005 Heckert gave them a new genus name Krzyzanowskisaurus after Stan Krzyżanowski.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Krzyzanowskisaurus was a true ornithischian dinosaur or a pseudosuchian reptile.1

Where the facts come from

Krzyzanowskisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Krzyzanowskisaurus 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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