Technosaurus
Technosaurus was a small, plant-eating reptile that lived in Texas during the Late Triassic, about 210 million years ago. It had special teeth with extra bumps that helped it chew tough plants.12
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Fun facts
Technosaurus was named in 1984 by Sankar Chatterjee, who thought it was a small early dinosaur called a fabrosaurid.1
For about 20 years, scientists believed Technosaurus was a very early ornithischian dinosaur, but later studies showed it might not be a dinosaur at all.1
The original fossils of Technosaurus were a mix of bones from different animals, including a jaw piece that later turned out to belong to a strange crocodile-like reptile called Shuvosaurus.1
Technosaurus had teeth with both front and back accessory cusps (extra bumps), a feature that helps identify it as an ornithischian.2
The name Technosaurus comes from Texas Tech University, where the fossils were studied.1
Most asked questions about Technosaurus
?Is Technosaurus a dinosaur?
Technosaurus is not considered a dinosaur. Scientists now believe the fossils originally identified as Technosaurus are actually a mix of different prehistoric animals.1
?How big was Technosaurus?
Nobody knows for sure, because only a few jaw and skull pieces have been found. It was probably small, like other early plant-eaters from the Triassic.1
?What did Technosaurus eat?
It was a plant-eater. Its teeth had extra bumps that helped it chew tough plants.3
?When did Technosaurus live?
It lived during the Late Triassic, about 210 million years ago.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Technosaurus is definitely a dinosaur.
Truth: Scientists are not sure if Technosaurus is a true dinosaur or a close relative called a silesaurid. It may be a dinosauriform, not a dinosaur.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Technosaurus
- Named by
- Chatterjee 19843
- Group
- Beaked plant-eaters
- Family / clade
- Silesauridae3
- Classification
- Ornithischia3
- Age of the rocks
- 227 to 206 million years (Norian)3
- Rock formations
- Cooper Canyon3
- Countries
- USA3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Technosaurus was named by Sankar Chatterjee in 1984 based on fossils from the Cooper Canyon Formation in Texas. The type species is Technosaurus smalli.13
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Technosaurus is a true dinosaur or a close non-dinosaur relative called a silesaurid.1
Where the facts come from
- Technosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Type locality. NMMNH locality 110, Guadalupe County. New Mexico. (miketaylor.org.uk)
- Technosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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