Minimocursor

Say it: MIN-ih-mo-KUR-sor

Name means: “smallest runner”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Minimocursor was a tiny, speedy plant-eater that lived in what is now Thailand. It ran on two legs and was one of the smallest dinosaurs of its time.1

Lived

149 to 137 million years ago2

Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Phu Noi, Phu Kradung Formation, northeastern Thailand2 1

Food

Plants2

Length

0.6 to 2 m1

holotype is a juvenile; adult length is an estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 4 house cats nose to tailas long as 11 bananas end to end

How big was Minimocursor compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Minimocursor is the first basal neornithischian dinosaur ever found in Southeast Asia.1

The holotype skeleton is more than 50% complete, which is rare for a small dinosaur.1

It lived alongside fish, turtles, a pterosaur, and other dinosaurs like a stegosaur and a meat-eating metriacanthosaurid.1

The name Minimocursor means 'smallest runner' because it was tiny and probably fast.1

Its fossils come from rocks that are about 149 to 137 million years old, from the Late Jurassic to the earliest Cretaceous.2

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

?How big was Minimocursor?

The not-fully-grown holotype was about 0.6 metres (2.0 ft) long. Larger remains suggest a fully-grown adult could reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) long.1

?What did Minimocursor eat?

It was a plant-eater, or herbivore, that lived on the ground.2

?When did Minimocursor live?

It lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 163 to 145 million years ago.1

?Where was Minimocursor found?

Its fossils were discovered at the Phu Noi locality in Kalasin Province, Thailand.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Minimocursor
Named by: Manitkoon et al. 20232
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Neornithischia2
Classification: Ornithischia2
Age of the rocks: 149 to 137 million years (Tithonian / Berriasian)2
Rock formations: Phu Kradung2
Countries: Thailand2
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Minimocursor was named in 2023 by Sita Manitkoon and colleagues. The holotype was dug up in 2012 at Phu Noi, Thailand, and took five years to prepare.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big a fully grown Minimocursor was, because the best skeleton is from a young animal.1

Where the facts come from

Minimocursor (en.wikipedia.org)
Minimocursor 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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