Zalmoxes

Say it like this: “zal-moks-eez”

Zalmoxes robustus

Zalmoxes ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Romania.

Quiz me on Zalmoxes

When: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Named in: 2003 · Weishampel, D. B.; Jianu, C.; Csiki, Z.; Norman, D. B.
Hip height: 0.7 m · 2 ft
Length: 2–2.9 m · 7–10 ft
Weight: 45 kg · 99 lb
Found in: Romania · Sânpetru
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two legs
Kind: beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
Family branch: Rhabdodontidae

The story in short

The genus Zalmoxes dates to 2003, the year D. B. Weishampel and colleagues described it. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from Romania, including the Sânpetru Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Zalmoxes at a length near 2–2.9 m, hips about 0.7 m high, and a body mass around 45 kg.

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

Close relatives

Matheronodon

Matheronodon provincialis

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

Mochlodon

Mochlodon suessi

Late Cretaceous (Santonian · Campanian) · roughly 85.7 to 72.2 million years ago

Pareisactus

Pareisactus evrostos

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