Morrosaurus

Say it: MOR-ro-SORE-us

Name means: “Morro lizard, named after El Morro, the place where it was found”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Cretaceous

Morrosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived in Antarctica during the Late Cretaceous, about 72 to 66 million years ago. It was a medium-sized runner with long, slender legs, and it lived in a cool, rainy forest.1 2

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

James Ross Island, Antarctica1 3

Food

Plants2 1

Length

4.5 to 5 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 5 dogs nose to tailas long as 28 bananas end to end

How big was Morrosaurus compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Morrosaurus is one of the few dinosaurs known from Antarctica, showing that dinosaurs lived on every continent.1

Its leg bones suggest it was a fast runner, with a slender, tightly bunched foot that helped it sprint.1 3

Morrosaurus belonged to a group called Elasmaria, which also included dinosaurs from Patagonia and Australia, showing they shared a common land connection.3

The only known fossil is a partial right hind leg, including parts of the thigh, shin, and foot.1

It lived in a cool, temperate rainforest with high rainfall, very different from the icy Antarctica we know today.3

AI-made picture of Morrosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Morrosaurus 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.

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think dinosaurs never lived in Antarctica because it is too cold.

Truth: Morrosaurus and other dinosaurs lived in Antarctica when it was warmer and covered in forests, during the Late Cretaceous.1 3

For dino experts

Scientific name: Morrosaurus
Named by: Rozadilla et al. 20164
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Elasmaria4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Snow Hill Island4
Countries: Antarctica4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The fossil was found in 2002 by Argentine paleontologist Fernando Novas, and the species was named Morrosaurus antarcticus in 2016 by Rozadilla and colleagues.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Morrosaurus and other southern dinosaurs are related to each other, and whether they formed a single group called Elasmaria.3

Where the facts come from

Morrosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
A new ornithopod (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Antarctica and its palaeobiogeographical implications (ri.conicet.gov.ar)
Morrosaurus 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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