Dino card No. 1269 of 2,027

Nicksaurus

Say it: NICK-sore-us

Name means: “Nick's lizard”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Cretaceous

Nicksaurus was a long-necked plant-eater that lived in what is now Pakistan. It was a titanosaur, a type of giant sauropod dinosaur. Its teeth were long and cone-shaped, like little ice cream cones!1

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Barkhan District, Balochistan Province, Pakistan1

Food

Plants1

Length

12 m3

estimate

Weight

4 tonnes3

estimate

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 2.5 cars

as long as 2.5 cars parked in a rowas long as 67 bananas end to endas heavy as 130 big dogsas heavy as 800 watermelons

How big was Nicksaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Nicksaurus lived during the latest part of the Cretaceous Period, about 66 million years ago.1

Its fossils were found in the Vitakri Formation, a rock layer in the Sulaiman Basin of Pakistan.1

The name Nicksaurus honors British journalist Nick Allen, who helped save dinosaur footprints in Pakistan.1

Nicksaurus had a medium-sized body for a sauropod, but scientists are not sure exactly how big it was.1

Its tail bones were procoelous, meaning they were hollowed out on one side like a cup.1

Nicksaurus shared its home with other titanosaurs like Gspsaurus, Saraikimasoom, and Pakisaurus.3

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

?What did Nicksaurus eat?

Nicksaurus was a plant-eater, just like other sauropods. It used its long, cone-shaped teeth to munch on leaves and plants.3 4

?How big was Nicksaurus?

Scientists are not sure exactly how big Nicksaurus was, but it had a medium-sized body for a sauropod. It was probably smaller than the biggest titanosaurs.3

?When did Nicksaurus live?

Nicksaurus lived during the latest part of the Cretaceous Period, about 66 million years ago. That was right before the dinosaurs went extinct.3

?Where was Nicksaurus found?

Nicksaurus fossils were found in the Vitakri Formation in the Sulaiman Basin of Pakistan. The bones come from a place called Kinwa Kali Kakor.3 4

?Is Nicksaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, Nicksaurus is a dinosaur. It is a titanosaur, which is a type of giant sauropod dinosaur.3 4

?Why is it called Nicksaurus?

The name Nicksaurus honors British journalist Nick Allen, who helped save dinosaur footprints in Pakistan. 'Saurus' means lizard in Greek.3

?Did Nicksaurus have feathers?

No, Nicksaurus did not have feathers. It was a sauropod, and sauropods had scaly skin like modern reptiles.3

?Could Nicksaurus swim?

Nobody knows for sure if Nicksaurus could swim. Many large dinosaurs probably could wade in water, but there is no evidence that Nicksaurus was a good swimmer.3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Nicksaurus
Named by: Malkani 20144
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Saltasauridae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Titanosauria > Macronaria4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Vitakri4
Countries: Pakistan4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Nicksaurus was first named by paleontologist Malkani in 2014. The fossils were found in the Vitakri dome area of Barkhan District, Balochistan, Pakistan.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Nicksaurus was, because only a few bones have been found.1

Where the facts come from

Formal Description of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Biotas Found from Pakistan (scirp.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
List of informally named dinosaurs (en.wikipedia.org)
Nicksaurus 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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