Parksosaurus

Parksosaurus was a nimble, bipedal herbivorous dinosaur that roamed river valleys and floodplains in Alberta, Canada during the Late Cretaceous epoch. Reaching about two to two and a half metres in length, it was a lightly built animal weighing roughly forty to fifty kilograms. The type specimen preserves a partial skull and much of the hindquarters, displaying long, slender shins indicative of a swift runner. Parksosaurus possessed small, ridged teeth suited for cropping leafy foliage, shrubs, and seeds close to the ground. As an inhabitant of ancient temperate forests alongside towering duck-billed dinosaurs and tyrannosaurs, this small thescelosaurid relied on keen eyesight and brisk acceleration to avoid danger.

It was originally named as a species of Thescelosaurus before being recognised as a distinct genus.

Where and when

Parksosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 71 to 68 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). Its remains come from Canada, in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation.

The numbers

Length 2.3 m (estimates run from 2 to 2.5 m). Mass about 45 kg. Hip height about 0.8 m. That is 1.4 human-lengths, or 0.21 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Parksosaurus with a bus Place on the timeline