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bird-hipped dinosaur · Disputed
Nanosaurus
Say it like this: “NAY-no-SAWR-us”
Nanosaurus agilis
Nanosaurus 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
- 1877 · Marsh, O. C.
- Hip height
- 0.6 m · 2 ft
- Length
- 2–2.2 m · 7–7 ft
- Weight
- 20–30 kg · 44–66 lb
- Found in
- the United States · Morrison
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two legs
- Kind
- bird-hipped dinosaur · Ornithischian
- Family branch
- Neornithischia
The story in short
The genus Nanosaurus dates to 1877, the year O. C. Marsh described it. The name means “small or dwarf 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 Nanosaurus at a length near 2–2.2 m, hips about 0.6 m high, and a body mass around 20–30 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Neornithischia, among the bird-hipped dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Agilisaurus
Agilisaurus louderbacki
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago
Enigmacursor
Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
Hexinlusaurus
Hexinlusaurus multidens
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago