Nanosaurus

Say it: NAN-oh-SORE-us

Name means: “small or dwarf lizard”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Nanosaurus was a tiny, speedy plant-eater that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic. It ran on two long legs, had short arms, and was one of the smallest dinosaurs in its neighborhood.1

Lived

158 to 143 million years ago2

Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, USA2

Food

Plants1

Length

2 to 2.2 m1

Weight

20 kg to 30 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Nanosaurus had thin, bony plates along its ribs, called intercostal plates, which helped it breathe or store energy.1

This dinosaur was only about 2 to 2.2 metres (6.6 to 7.2 feet) long and weighed as little as 20 to 30 kilograms (44 to 66 pounds).1

Nanosaurus lived alongside giants like Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Brachiosaurus in the Morrison Formation.1

Scientists once thought Nanosaurus was several different dinosaurs, including Drinker and Othnielosaurus, but now they think it was just one species.1

Nanosaurus had short, broad hands with short fingers, and a small head.1

It lived in a semiarid environment with wet and dry seasons, full of ferns, cycads, and conifer forests.1

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

Myth buster

Myth: Nanosaurus was a meat-eater.

Truth: Nanosaurus was a plant-eater (herbivore) with teeth shaped for chewing plants.2 1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Nanosaurus
Named by: Marsh 18772
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Neornithischia2
Classification: Ornithischia2
Age of the rocks: 158 to 143 million years ()2
Rock formations: Morrison2
Countries: USA2
Fossil records: 32 in the Paleobiology Database2
Also known as: Drinker, Othnielosaurus (older names now counted as the same animal)2
Discovery: Othniel Charles Marsh named Nanosaurus in 1877 from fossils found in Colorado. The name means 'small lizard'.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Nanosaurus was an omnivore that sometimes ate meat, or a strict herbivore.1

Where the facts come from

Nanosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Nanosaurus 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.