Muttaburrasaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived during the middle Cretaceous period, about 113-97.5 million years ago. The name means "Muttaburra (in Queensland, Australia) lizard". Muttaburrasaurus was one of the largest creatures in the southern hemisphere at its time. At 24 feet long, weighed about 3.1 short tons, and had a fat bump on its nose. They may have lived in herds. it dwarfed all other herbivores, and carnivores in its environment. Despite its overwhelming size it was not particularly fast, but it didn't need to be. Sheer size was its defense. Only the oldest, or the sickest were at risk from predatory Allosaurs. Muttaburrasaurus certainly lived in large groups for extra protection just in case. Muttaburrasaurus had a large bony growth on its nose, from the eyes to the tip of the jaw. It is likely, given that it is a hadrosaur that this was some kind of resonating chamber that was used for communication. This also supports the idea that they lived in groups.
Description[]
Scale comparition with human
Muttaburrasaurus was about 8 metres (26 ft) and weighed around 2.8 metric tons (3.1 short tons).[1] The femur of the holotype has a length of 1015 millimetres.

Life restoration
Wether Muttaburrasaurus is capable of Quadrupedal mouvement has been debated; it was originally thought to be an "Iguanodontid"; thought recent studies indicate a rhabdodont position. Ornithopods this basal where incapable of quadrupedal mouvement. Originally reconstructing Muttaburrasaurus with a thumb spike, Molnar later doubted such a structure was present.[2] The foot was long and broad, with four toes.
The skull of Muttaburrasaurus was flat, with a triangular cross-section seen from the top, the back of the head was broad but the snout pointed. The snout had the form of a strongly enlarged, hollow, upward-cruved snout that might have been used to make calls or for display purposes. But, as no fossilised nasal tissue has been found, this is still conjectural. This so-called bulla nasalis was shorter with the older Muttaburrasaurus sp., as is shown by the Dunluce Skull. The top part of the bulla of the holotype has not been preserved, but at least the second skull has a round form.[2]
History[]

Holotype skull
The species was first described from a partial skeleton found by grazier Doug Langdon in 1963 at Rosebery Downs Station next to Thomson River near Muttaburra, Queensland, Australia, which also provides the creature's generic name. The remains were found by paleontologist Dr Alan Bartholomai and entomologist Edward Dahms. After a long preparation of the fossils, it was named in 1981 by Bartholomai and Ralph Molnar, who honored its discoverer with its specific name langdoni.[3]
The holotype, specimen QM F6140, was found in the Mackunda Formation dating to the Albian-Cenomanian. It consists of a partial skeleton with skull and lower jaws. The bottom of the skull and the back of the jawbone, lots of vertebrae, parts of the pelvis, and parts of the front and hind limbs have been preserved.
Some teeth have been found further north, near Hughenden,[2] and south at Lightning Ridge,[2] in northwestern New South Wales. At Lightning Ridge there have been found teeth and a shoulder blade that may be from a Muttaburrasaurus. A skull, known as the "Dunluce Skull", specimen QM F14921, was found by John Stewart-Moore and 14 year old Robert Walker on Dunluce Station, between Hughenden and Richmond in 1987. It originates from somewhat older layers of the Allaru Mudstone and was considered by Molnar to be a separate, yet unnamed species, a Muttaburrasaurus sp.[2] The same place had two incomplete skeletons in 1989. There have also been isolated teeth and bones found at Iona Station southeast of Hughenden.
Paleobiology[]

Statue in Hughenden, Queensland, Australia
Muttaburrasaurus had very powerful jaws equipped with shearing teeth. Whereas in more derived euornithopod species the replacement teeth alternated with the previous tooth generation to form a tooth battery, with Muttaburrasaurus they grew directly under them and only a single erupted generation was present. This precluded a chewing motion. An additional basal trait was the lack of a primary ridge on the teeth sides, showing eleven lower ridges. In 1981 Molnar speculated that these qualities indicated an omnivorous diet, Muttaburrasaurus at times eating carcasses. In 1995 he changed his opinion, presenting them as a convergence to the ceratopsian shearing teeth system. They would have been an adaptation for eating tough vegetation such as cycads.[4]
Classification[]

Reconstructed skull
Molnar first assigned Muttaburrasaurus to the Iguanodontidae, but in 2010, a study by Andrew McDonald placed it in the Rhabdodontidae.
Paleoecology[]
So far one of the only dinosaurs found at the Mackunda Formation, Muttaburrasaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, around 113–93 million years ago, traveling long distances across Australia in search of forest areas that could provide the vegetation they needed as well as traveling as far as to Antarctica to find an area to lay eggs. It lived alongside many other Early Cretaceous dinosaur in Queensland, such as sauropods such as Diamantinasaurus and Wintonotitan, small armoured dinosaurs such as Kunbarrasaurus and Minmi, as well as the predatory theropod Australovenator, which may have preyed on Muttaburrasaurus. At the Dinosaur Cove formation in Victoria to the south, there was also a variety of smaller ornithopods such as Atlascopcosaurus, Leaellynasaura, and Qantassaurus. Australia was within the Antarctic circle during the Early Cretaceous and was at this time, one of the coldest places on Earth, with seasonal warm and very cold periods below freezing. The variety of dinosaurs living in this environment shows that these were highly adaptable animals and possibly warm blooded. Muttaburrasaurus' diet indicates their environment to be semi-arid with few waterways.
JPInstitute.com Description[]
Muttaburrasaurus was a member of the same dinosaur family as Iguanodon. It was a medium-sized, plant-eating dinosaur that roamed what is now Australia. It had a large bump on its nose that may have been used to amplify the sounds it made so it could be heard at great distances.
Muttaburrasaurus was a very typical member of the iguanodontia, and it seems to be very closely related to Camptosaurus. Its teeth were a bit different from those of other iguanodonts, as they were seemingly designed for cutting.
Dinosaur Field Guide Description[]
Muttaburrasaurus ("lizard from Muttaburra") has a stocky, well-muscled body. Although the only mounted skeleton in the world is shown with a thumb spike as big as Iguanodon's, some scientists question the restoration of this feature. That's because the original "spike" bone in Muttaburrasaurus is only partially preserved. One feature Muttaburrasaurus has in common with later ornithopods, or two-legged plant-eating dinosaurs, is its large nose. It is not known if this nose allowed Muttaburrasaurus to communicate, as the hadrosaurs are believed to have done. The nose is closer to the tip of the snout than in hadrosaurs, but it is still large enough to block any stereoscopic vision directly ahead. Humans and predators have stereoscopic vision, which allows them to see in depth. Plant-eating dinosaurs and other prey have non-overlapping fields of vision, which gives them the ability to see more widely but hinders depth perception.
Fun Facts[]
Because this dinosaur cannot be confidently placed within any known ornithopod family, it is considered a "free agent" (like an unsigned football player)
Trivia[]
The original specimen of Muttaburrasaurus was found in marine rocks. The dinosaur's body may have floated out to sea before fossilization.
Gallery[]
Appearance in other media[]
Jurassic Park[]
- Muttaburrasaurus appeared in the video game Jurassic World: The Game.
- Muttaburrasaurus appeared in the video game Jurassic World: Evolution.
Read more Muttaburrasaurus on Jurassic Park Wiki |
The Land Before Time[]
- the 1995 animated film The Land Before Time III: The Time of Great Giving, Mutt is a Muttaburrasaurus.
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story[]
Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Paul, G.S. (2010). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press, p. 286.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Template:Cite journal
- ↑ Template:Cite journal
- ↑ Molnar, R.E., 1995, "Possible convergence in the jaw mechanisms of ceratopians and Muttaburrasaurus". In: A.Sun and Y.Wang (eds) Sixth Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota, short papers. China Ocean Press, Beijing. pp.115-117