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Magnosaurus

Say it: MAG-no-SORE-us

Name means: “large lizard”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosMiddle Jurassic

Magnosaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived in England about 170 million years ago. It walked on two legs and was a fierce hunter, but we only have a few of its bones, so it is still a bit of a mystery.1

Lived

171 to 169 million years ago4

Middle Jurassic

Fossils found in

Dorset and Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom1 2

Food

Meat4 1

Length

4 m1

rough estimate by Paul (1988)

Weight

175 kg to 500 kg1

Height

1 m1

at the hip, estimated by Benson (2010)

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hip, estimated by Benson (2010)

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 17 big dogs

as long as 4 dogs nose to tailas long as 22 bananas end to endas heavy as 100 watermelonsup to the handle of a door

How big was Magnosaurus compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Magnosaurus is known from only a few bones, including parts of the jaw, backbone, hip, and legs, so scientists are still piecing together what it looked like.1

For a long time, scientists thought Magnosaurus was just a species of Megalosaurus, another meat-eating dinosaur. It was only in the 1990s that they started treating it as its own genus.1

Some scientists think Magnosaurus might be the same as Eustreptospondylus, another dinosaur from England, because their jaws look similar.1 2

The first Magnosaurus fossils were found in the 1800s by a man named W. Parker, near a place called Nethercomb in Dorset, England.1

Magnosaurus lived during the Middle Jurassic period, about 170 to 168 million years ago, when England was a very different place.1 4

Some scientists think Magnosaurus was one of the oldest known members of a group of meat-eating dinosaurs called Tetanurae, which includes famous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor.1

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

?How big was Magnosaurus?

Estimates vary. One scientist guessed it was about 4 metres (13 feet) long and weighed around 175 kilograms (386 pounds), while another thought it was heavier, about half a tonne, and stood over a metre tall at the hip.1

?What did Magnosaurus eat?

Magnosaurus was a carnivore, meaning it ate meat. It was a bipedal predator that likely hunted other animals.1 3

?When did Magnosaurus live?

Magnosaurus lived during the Middle Jurassic period, about 175 to 168 million years ago. Its fossils were found in rocks that are about 170 million years old.1 3

?Is Magnosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, Magnosaurus is a dinosaur. It was a theropod, a group of meat-eating dinosaurs that walked on two legs.1 3

?Why is Magnosaurus so mysterious?

Magnosaurus is mysterious because only a few bones have been found, including parts of the jaw, backbone, hip, and legs. Scientists are still trying to figure out what it looked like.1 3

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Myth buster

Myth: Magnosaurus is just a species of Megalosaurus.

Truth: Scientists now think Magnosaurus is its own genus, separate from Megalosaurus, because of differences in the bones, like the shape of the shin bone.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Magnosaurus
Named by: Huene 19324
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Megalosauridae4
Classification: Theropoda4
Age of the rocks: 171 to 169 million years (Bajocian)4
Rock formations: Middle Inferior Oolite4
Countries: United Kingdom4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossils were found in the 1800s by W. Parker near Nethercomb, Dorset, England. In 1923, Friedrich von Huene named them Megalosaurus nethercombensis, and in 1932 he gave them their own genus, Magnosaurus.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Magnosaurus is the same as Eustreptospondylus, because their fossils are so similar and incomplete.1 2

Where the facts come from

Magnosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Magnosaurus Huene, 1932 (tb.plazi.org)
Magnosaurus Facts for Kids (kids.kiddle.co)
Magnosaurus 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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