Muttaburrasaurus

Muttaburrasaurus was a large, heavy-set ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia. Living around 105 to 100 million years ago, this animal grew up to eight metres in length and weighed around two to three tonnes, rivaling a large rhinoceros. It possessed a prominent, rounded nasal muzzle which researchers suspect helped it produce loud calls or display to rivals. Its teeth were distinct from typical iguanodontians, featuring strong shearing edges rather than grinding surfaces, leading some palaeontologists to suggest it consumed cycads or tough foliage. Muttaburrasaurus was capable of moving both on four legs and on two, and is among the most complete and celebrated dinosaurs ever discovered in Australia.

Its snout bore an enlarged, bulbous nasal chamber that may have served as a resonating chamber for sound.

Where and when

Muttaburrasaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 105 to 100 million years ago (Albian age). Its remains come from Australia, in the Mackunda Formation.

The numbers

Length 7.5 m (estimates run from 7 to 8 m). Mass about 2.4 t. Hip height about 2.2 m. That is 4.4 human-lengths, or 0.67 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

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