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A group of grazing Muttaburrasaurus with smaller dinosaurs in the forground and pterosaurs above

Muttaburrasaurus

A relative of Iguanodon, Muttaburrasaurus had the same spiked thumb and ability to walk either on all fours or on its hind legs. However, it differed in that it may have eaten meat as well as plants. Its name comes from the Australian town where it was first discovered. Muttaburrasaurus had an unusual rounded muzzle with a hollow chamber inside it the purpose of which is unknown. Perhaps it was to improve the sense of smell or to resonate sound and enable Muttaburrasaurus to make loud cries.

Scientific name: Muttaburrasaurus

Rank: Genus

Common names:

Muttaburra lizard

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Behaviours

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Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

When they lived

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Cretaceous period Cretaceous period
The Cretaceous ended with the most famous mass extinction in history - the one that killed the dinosaurs. Prior to that, it was a warm period with no ice caps at the poles.

About

Muttaburrasaurus is a genus of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaur, living in what is now northeastern Australia sometime between 112 and 98.6 million years ago during the early Cretaceous Period. It has been recovered in some analyses as a member of the iguanodontian family Rhabdodontidae. After Minmi, it is Australia's most completely known dinosaur from skeletal remains. It was named after Muttaburra, which is a site in Queensland, Australia, where it was found.

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