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beaked plant-eater
Tenontosaurus
Say it like this: “ti-NON-tuh-SOR-uhs”
Tenontosaurus tilletti
Tenontosaurus ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Aptian · Albian · Cenomanian) · roughly 121.4 to 93.9 million years ago
- Named in
- 1970 · Ostrom, J. H.
- Hip height
- 1.6 m · 5 ft
- Length
- 6–8 m · 20–26 ft
- Weight
- 0.6–1 tonnes
- Found in
- the United States · Cloverly
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two legs
- Kind
- beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
- Family branch
- Rhabdodontomorpha
The story in short
In 1970, J. H. Ostrom published the name Tenontosaurus. The name means “sinew lizard.”
Fossils referred to Tenontosaurus date to the Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Aptian · Albian · Cenomanian), roughly 121.4 to 93.9 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Cloverly Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Tenontosaurus at a length near 6–8 m, hips about 1.6 m high, and a body mass around 0.6–1 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Rhabdodontomorpha, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.
This entry is the whole genus. The type species is Tenontosaurus tilletti. Other named species include Tenontosaurus dossi.
Other species with this name
- Tenontosaurus tilletti
- Tenontosaurus dossi
Close relatives
Ampelognathus
Ampelognathus coheni
Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) · roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago
Convolosaurus
Convolosaurus marri
Early Cretaceous (Aptian) · roughly 121.4 to 113.2 million years ago
Foskeia
Foskeia pelendonum
Early Cretaceous (Barremian · Aptian) · roughly 125.8 to 113.2 million years ago