Minotaurasaurus

Say it like this: “min-uh-TOR-a-SOR-us”

Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani

Minotaurasaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mongolia.

Quiz me on Minotaurasaurus

When: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Named in: 2009 · Miles, C. A.; Miles, C. J.
Hip height: Not established
Length: 4.2 m · 14 ft
Weight: Not established
Found in: Mongolia
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
Family branch: Ankylosaurinae

The story in short

In 2009, C. A. Miles and C. J. Miles published the name Minotaurasaurus. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Minotaurasaurus at a length near 4.2 m.

On the family tree it sits in Ankylosaurinae, among the armored dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Akainacephalus

Akainacephalus johnsoni

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Ankylosaurus

Ankylosaurus magniventris

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago

Anodontosaurus

Anodontosaurus lambei

Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian) · roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago