Dino card No. 1146 of 2,027

Massospondylus

Say it: MASS-oh-SPON-di-lus

Name means: “longer vertebra”1

Ate: PlantsLong-necksLate Triassic to Early Jurassic

Massospondylus was an early long-necked dinosaur that lived in southern Africa during the Early Jurassic. It had a small head, a long neck and tail, and a slender body. This dinosaur walked on two legs and used its sharp thumb claws to pull down branches or dig up plants.1

Lived

237 to 175 million years ago4

Late Triassic to Early Jurassic

Fossils found in

South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Namibia1 4

Food

Plants1

Length

4 to 6 m1

Weight

70 kg to 136.7 kg3 1

range from NHM estimate to Seebacher estimate

Height

1.8 m2

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 5 big dogs

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 33 bananas end to endas heavy as 27 watermelonsabout as tall as a door

How big was Massospondylus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Massospondylus was one of the first dinosaurs to be named, described by Richard Owen in 1854.1

Its name means 'longer vertebra' because Owen thought the neck bones were tail bones.1

Fossil eggs and embryos of Massospondylus have been found, and they are among the oldest known dinosaur eggs.1

The eggshell of Massospondylus was extremely thin, less than 0.1 mm (0.0039 in) thick.1

Baby Massospondylus had proportionally longer arms and a larger head than adults, suggesting they may have walked on four legs when young.1

Massospondylus could speed up or slow down its growth depending on how much food was available.1

The oldest known Massospondylus was about 20 years old when it died.1

AI-made picture of Massospondylus — An AI-made picture of how Massospondylus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Massospondylus

?How big was Massospondylus?

Massospondylus was about 4 to 6 metres (13 to 20 feet) long, with a small head, long neck and tail, and a slender body. It weighed around 150 kilograms (330 pounds) according to the Natural History Museum.1 3

?What did Massospondylus eat?

It was probably a herbivore (plant-eater), though some scientists think it may have been omnivorous. It used its sharp thumb claws to pull down branches or dig up plants, and it may have swallowed stones to help grind tough leaves in its stomach.1 2

?Did Massospondylus walk on two legs or four?

It is now considered to have been bipedal (walked on two legs), though it was long thought to be quadrupedal. Some studies suggest babies may have walked on four legs, but newer research says it was bipedal at all ages.1

?When did Massospondylus live?

It lived during the Early Jurassic, about 201 to 184 million years ago.1 3

?Where was Massospondylus found?

Fossils have been found in southern Africa, including South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, and also in Namibia. Some fossils from the US and Argentina were once assigned to it but are now considered different dinosaurs.1 2

?Did Massospondylus lay eggs?

Yes, it laid eggs, and some of the oldest known dinosaur eggs and embryos belong to this genus. The eggshells were extremely thin, less than 0.1 mm (0.004 in) thick.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Massospondylus was a four-legged (quadrupedal) dinosaur.

Truth: Scientists now think Massospondylus walked on two legs (bipedal), though babies may have been four-legged.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Massospondylus
Named by: Owen 18544
Group: Long-necks
Family / clade: Massospondylidae4
Classification: Sauropodomorpha4
Age of the rocks: 237 to 175 million years (Carnian / Toarcian)4
Rock formations: Elliot, Mpandi, Forest Sandstone4
Countries: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia4
Fossil records: 80 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: The first fossils of Massospondylus were found in 1853 or 1854 by Joseph Millard Orpen and his brothers on a farm in the Drakensberg mountains near Harrismith, South Africa. Their father donated the fossils to the Hunterian Museum in London, where Richard Owen described and named the dinosaur in 1854.1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Massospondylus was purely a plant-eater or also ate small animals or carrion.1

Where the facts come from

Massospondylus (en.wikipedia.org)
enchantedlearning.com (enchantedlearning.com)
Massospondylus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Massospondylus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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