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beaked plant-eater
Dryosaurus
Say it like this: “DRY-uh-SOR-uhs”
Dryosaurus altus
Dryosaurus ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
- Named in
- 1894 · Marsh, O. C.
- Hip height
- 0.9 m · 3 ft
- Length
- 3 m · 10 ft
- Weight
- 100 kg · 220 lb
- Found in
- the United States · Morrison
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two legs
- Kind
- beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
- Family branch
- Dryosauridae
The story in short
The genus Dryosaurus dates to 1894, the year O. C. Marsh described it. The name means “tree lizard.”
It lived in the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian), roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Morrison Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Dryosaurus at a length near 3 m, hips about 0.9 m high, and a body mass around 100 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Dryosauridae, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.
This entry is the whole genus. The type species is Dryosaurus altus. Other named species include Dryosaurus elderae.
Other species with this name
- Dryosaurus altus
- Dryosaurus elderae
Close relatives
Callovosaurus
Callovosaurus leedsi
Middle Jurassic (Callovian) · roughly 165.3 to 161.5 million years ago
Dysalotosaurus
Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) · roughly 154.8 to 149.2 million years ago
Elrhazosaurus
Elrhazosaurus nigeriensis
Early Cretaceous (Aptian) · roughly 121.4 to 113.2 million years ago