Hungarosaurus
Name:
Hungarosaurus
(Hungary lizard).
Phonetic: Hun-gar-o-sore-us.
Named By: A. Osi - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ankylosauria, Nodosauridae.
Species: H. tormai (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated about 4 meters long.
Known locations: Hungary- Csehbanya Formation.
Time period: Santonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Collected remains of 4
individuals.
Several
hundred bones from an estimated four individuals have been attributed
to this genus, and together they make up the best represented
European genus of nodosaurid
dinosaur. Like its nodosaurid
relatives, Hungarosaurus was an armoured
quadrupedal dinosaur that
would have browsed upon low growing vegetation. The armour would have
been an arrangement of bony plates called osteoderms (also called
scutes) that would have connected together to form a tough covering
across the back and flanks of the body. As a nodosaurid however,
Hungarosaurus probably lacked a bony club on the
end of it tail,
which is a common feature seen in ankylosaurids, another group
of armoured dinosaurs very closely related (and probably descended
from) to the nodosaurids.
Study
of the fossil bearing formation that Hungarosaurus
has been discovered
in indicates that this genus lived in a low lying floodplain, an area
where the rich fertile soil would allow for the growth of a readily
available supply of low growing vegetation. The fact that the remains
of four individuals were found close together may indicate that
Hungarosaurus, and possibly other nodosaurids,
lived in groups.
An alternative is that the four may have drowned and been washed
together during a flood, something quite likely given the floodplain
ecosystem where they seem to have lived, however this does not
adequately disprove the group living theory in its entirety.
Further reading
- Hungarosaurus tormai, a new ankylosaur
(Dinosauria) from the
Upper Cretaceous of Hungary. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology '25
(2): 370-383. - Atilla Ősi - 2005.
- Sympatry of two ankylosaurs (Hungarosaurus and cf. Struthiosaurus) in
the Santonian of Hungary. - Cretaceous Research 44: 58-63. - Atilla
Ősi, & E. Prondvai - 2013.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |
 |