Moabosaurus
Moabosaurus was a long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Utah, USA, about 125 million years ago. It had thick, air-filled bones and a mouth full of spoon-shaped teeth for munching tough plants.14
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Fun facts
Moabosaurus is known from over 5,500 bones from at least 18 individuals, all found in one quarry.1
Many of its bones were damaged by trampling and by insects, probably beetle larvae, that ate parts of the bones before they were buried.1
Its neck and back vertebrae had extremely low spines and large air chambers, making the bones lighter and stronger.1
Moabosaurus lived alongside the theropod dinosaurs Utahraptor and Nedcolbertia, as well as the armored dinosaur Gastonia.1
The rocks that contain Moabosaurus fossils are about 125 million years old, based on tiny zircon crystals.1
Scientists disagree on exactly where Moabosaurus fits in the dinosaur family tree: some say it is a close relative of Camarasaurus, while others place it in a group called Turiasauria.1
Most asked questions about Moabosaurus
?How big was Moabosaurus?
Moabosaurus reached about 10 meters (32.8 feet) long, based on juvenile and sub-adult specimens, so adults may have been even larger.13
?What did Moabosaurus eat?
Moabosaurus was a plant-eater, using its spoon-shaped teeth to munch tough plants.1
?When did Moabosaurus live?
Moabosaurus lived about 125 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous (Aptian age).13
?Where was Moabosaurus found?
Moabosaurus was found in the Dalton Wells Quarry, about 20 km northwest of Moab, Utah, USA.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Moabosaurus
- Named by
- Britt et al. 20174
- Group
- Long-necks
- Family / clade
- Turiasauria4
- Classification
- Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda4
- Age of the rocks
- 137 to 133 million years (Valanginian)4
- Rock formations
- Cedar Mountain4
- Countries
- USA4
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Moabosaurus was named in 2017 by Brooks Britt, Rodney Scheetz, Michael Whiting, and Ray Wilhite, based on fossils collected from the Dalton Wells Quarry in Utah between 1975 and 2005.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure whether Moabosaurus was a type of titanosauriform (related to Camarasaurus) or a turiasaur (a more primitive group), because different studies give different results.1
Where the facts come from
- Moabosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- MOABOSAURUS UTAHENSIS, N. Gen., N. SP., A New Sauropod From The Early Cretaceous (Aptian) of North America (deepblue.lib.umich.edu)
- BYU profs discover Moabosaurus in excavations from Utah's 'gold mine' - BYU News (news.byu.edu)
- Moabosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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