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Mirischia

Say it: mee-RIS-kee-uh

Name means: “wonderful pelvis”1 2

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosEarly Cretaceous

Mirischia was a small, speedy meat-eater that lived in what is now Brazil. It had a very unusual pelvis, with the left and right hip bones shaped differently. This dinosaur was about as long as a small car and probably hunted lizards and other tiny animals.1 2

Lived

120 to 113 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Araripina region, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil1 4

Food

Meat4 2

Length

2.1 m1

estimate for a subadult

Weight

7 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2 house cats

as long as 4 house cats nose to tailas long as 12 bananas end to endabout as heavy as a house catas heavy as 58 bananas

How big was Mirischia compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Mirischia had a strange pelvis: the left ischium (hip bone) had a hole, while the right one had an open notch instead. This is why it was named 'asymmetrica'.1

Scientists found a piece of petrified intestine inside the Mirischia fossil. That is very rare for a dinosaur.1 2

The fossil also preserved a space between its pubic and ischial bones that scientists think was an air sac, like the ones birds have today.1

Mirischia lived about 108 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous, in a hot, dry environment near a lagoon.1 2

Only one Mirischia fossil has ever been found. It was a subadult, so it was still growing when it died.1 2

Mirischia is a compsognathid, meaning it was a relative of the tiny European dinosaur Compsognathus.2

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

?How big was Mirischia?

It was about 2.1 metres (6.8 feet) long and weighed around 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds). That is about as long as a bicycle.1 3

?What did Mirischia eat?

Mirischia was a small meat-eater that probably hunted tiny animals like lizards.1

?Did Mirischia have air sacs like birds?

Yes. The fossil shows a space between its hip bones that scientists think was an air sac, just like the ones birds have today.1 3

?Where was Mirischia found?

It was found in northeastern Brazil, in the Chapada do Araripe region of Pernambuco.1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Mirischia
Named by: Naish et al. 20044
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Maniraptoromorpha4
Classification: Theropoda4
Age of the rocks: 120 to 113 million years (Aptian)4
Rock formations: Romualdo4
Countries: Brazil4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The only Mirischia fossil was bought illegally from a fossil dealer by a German museum. In 2004, scientists Darren Naish, David Martill and Eberhard Frey named it Mirischia asymmetrica.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Mirischia grew as an adult, because the only known fossil is from a subadult.1

Where the facts come from

Mirischia (en.wikipedia.org)
Ecology, Systematics and Biogeographical Relationships of Dinosaurs, Including a New Theropod, from the Santana Formation (?Albian, Early Cretaceous) of Brazil (darrennaish.wordpress.com)
Mirischia - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Mirischia 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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