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beaked plant-eater · Doubtful name
Orthomerus
Say it like this: “or-THOM-er-us”
Orthomerus dolloi
Orthomerus ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the Netherlands.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
- Named in
- 1883 · Seeley, H. G.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- Not established
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- the Netherlands · Maastricht
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two or four legs
- Kind
- beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
- Family branch
- Hadrosauridae
The story in short
In 1883, H. G. Seeley published the name Orthomerus. The name means “straight femur.”
Fossils referred to Orthomerus date to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from the Netherlands, including the Maastricht Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.
The fossils of Orthomerus are too incomplete for a responsible length, hip height, or weight, so those fields are left blank on purpose.
On the family tree it sits in Hadrosauridae, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Aquilarhinus
Aquilarhinus palimentus
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Arstanosaurus
Arstanosaurus akkurganensis
Late Cretaceous (Santonian · Campanian) · roughly 85.7 to 72.2 million years ago
Barsboldia
Barsboldia sicinskii
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago