Morelladon
Morelladon was a medium-sized plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Spain. It had very tall spines on its back that may have supported a sail, making it look a bit like a lizard with a fin!2
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Fun facts
Morelladon's back spines were very tall. The longest ones were over four times taller than the bones of the vertebrae they sat on.1
This dinosaur lived about 130 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.1
Morelladon is known from a partial skeleton that includes seven back vertebrae, part of the hip bones, and a tooth.1
Scientists think Morelladon may have had a sail on its back, made of skin stretched over those tall spines.2
Morelladon was a styracosternan, meaning it was a close relative of Iguanodon.2
The name Morelladon honors the town of Morella in Spain, where the fossil was found.1
Most asked questions about Morelladon
?How big was Morelladon?
Morelladon was about 6 metres (20 feet) long and weighed around 2 tonnes (about 4,400 pounds).1
?Did Morelladon have a sail?
Scientists think it may have had a sail on its back, made of skin stretched over its very tall neural spines. The longest spines were over four times taller than the vertebrae they sat on.14
?What did Morelladon eat?
Morelladon was a herbivore, meaning it ate plants. It had a tooth in its lower jaw for chewing plant material.1
?When did Morelladon live?
Morelladon lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 130 million years ago.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Morelladon
- Named by
- Gasulla et al. 20155
- Group
- Beaked plant-eaters
- Family / clade
- Hadrosauroidea5
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia5
- Age of the rocks
- 126 to 121 million years (Barremian)5
- Rock formations
- Arcillas de Morella5
- Countries
- Spain5
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- Morelladon was named in 2015 by a team of Spanish paleontologists. The skeleton was found in a quarry near Morella, Spain, and prepared by several technicians.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if the tall spines on Morelladon's back supported a sail or a hump, because no skin impressions have been found.2
Where the facts come from
- Morelladon (en.wikipedia.org)
- A New Sail-Backed Styracosternan (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Morella, Spain (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- UNED | COMUNICACIÓN Nuevo Dinosaurio (portal.uned.es)
- A New Sail-Backed Styracosternan (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Morella, Spain | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
- Morelladon in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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