Tethyshadros

Say it like this: “teth-eez-HAD-ros”

Tethyshadros insularis

Tethyshadros ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Italy.

Quiz me on Tethyshadros

When: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Named in: 2009 · Dalla Vecchia, F. M.
Hip height: 1.2 m · 4 ft
Length: 4.5 m · 15 ft
Weight: 338–584 kg · 745–1,287 lb
Found in: Italy · Liburnian
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two or four legs
Kind: beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
Family branch: Hadrosauromorpha

The story in short

In 2009, F. M. Dalla Vecchia published the name Tethyshadros. The name means “tethyan hadrosauroid.”

Fossils referred to Tethyshadros date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from Italy, including the Liburnian Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.

Published estimates put Tethyshadros at a length near 4.5 m, hips about 1.2 m high, and a body mass around 338–584 kg.

On the family tree it sits in Hadrosauromorpha, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Bactrosaurus

Bactrosaurus johnsoni

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

Claosaurus

Claosaurus agilis

Late Cretaceous (Coniacian · Santonian) · roughly 89.8 to 83.6 million years ago

Eolambia

Eolambia caroljonesa

Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) · roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago