Silesaurus
Silesaurus was a small, beaked plant-eater that lived about 230 million years ago in what is now Poland. It looked a bit like a dinosaur but was actually a close cousin, not a true dinosaur. Silesaurus had a horny beak on its lower jaw and weak front legs.12
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Fun facts
Silesaurus had a beak on its lower jaw, similar to later plant-eating dinosaurs like Lesothosaurus, but without the extra predentary bone.2
It had only 11 to 12 teeth in each dentary and maxilla, a low number compared to other early archosaurs.2
Its front limbs were long and slender, but weak, which scientists think is a special feature of this animal.1
Silesaurus had 25 presacral vertebrae, with 9 to 11 in the neck, and the last two back bones were fused to the hip bones.2
The first toe on its foot was reduced to a tiny metatarsal bone that probably did not have any toe bones.2
Silesaurus is the earliest known herbivore among the mesotarsal archosaurs, a group that includes dinosaurs and their relatives.2
Its fossils were found in a clay pit in Krasiejów, Poland, alongside remains of metoposaurs, phytosaurs, and aetosaurs.2
Most asked questions about Silesaurus
?Was Silesaurus a dinosaur?
No, Silesaurus was not a dinosaur. It was a dinosauriform, a close cousin of dinosaurs.3
?How big was Silesaurus?
Silesaurus was about 2.3 metres long. It was lightly built and probably fast and agile.3
?What did Silesaurus eat?
Silesaurus probably ate both plants and insects. Scientists found beetle remains in fossil dung that may belong to Silesaurus, suggesting it pecked insects off the ground like modern birds.3
?Did Silesaurus have feathers?
Nobody knows for sure. The fossils do not preserve feathers, so scientists cannot tell if Silesaurus had them.3
?When did Silesaurus live?
Silesaurus lived about 230 million years ago during the Late Triassic period.3
?Where was Silesaurus found?
Silesaurus fossils were found in a clay pit in Krasiejów, Poland.3
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Silesaurus
- Named by
- Dzik 20034
- Group
- Beaked plant-eaters
- Family / clade
- Silesauridae4
- Classification
- Ornithischia4
- Age of the rocks
- 234 to 227 million years (Carnian)4
- Rock formations
- Drawno Beds, Grabowa4
- Countries
- Poland4
- Fossil records
- 3 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Silesaurus was named by Polish paleontologist Jerzy Dzik in 2003. The fossils were found in a clay pit near Opole, Poland, in rocks from the Late Triassic period.14
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure whether Silesaurus is an early member of the ornithischian dinosaur lineage, a common ancestor of both ornithischians and prosauropods, or a separate line that evolved plant-eating on its own.2
Where the facts come from
- A beaked herbivorous archosaur with dinosaur affinities from the early Late Triassic of Poland: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Vol 23, No 3 (tandfonline.com)
- A BEAKED HERBIVOROUS ARCHOSAUR WITH DINOSAUR AFFINITIES FROM THE EARLY LATE TRIASSIC OF POLAND (keuper.us.edu.pl)
- Silesaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Silesaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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