Muttaburrasaurus Characteristics

Muttaburrasaurus measured 24 feet (7 metres) in length and weighed around 3 tons. It was a bipedal dinosaur and walked around on its 2 powerful hind legs, however, it was also capable of quadrupedal stance, grazing on all 4 limbs. The 3 middle digits of the fore limb were joined together into a hoof-like pad for walking on. It also had a spiked thumb, which was about 15 centimetres long. Muttaburrasaurus had very powerful jaws equipped with shearing teeth. It also had an enlarged, hollow, upward-bulging muzzle on its long snout, between its eyes, that might have been used to produce sounds or for display purposes or to improve its sense of smell. Muttaburrasaurus had a long neck and head and a long, stiff, pointed tail which could have been used as a counter-balance.

Muttaburrasaurus was a herbivore and its teeth were capable of eating through tough plant material such as cycads. It would have had to eat a huge amount of vegetation to sustain its size. Muttaburrasaurus used its uniquely shaped mouth to scoop up low lying plants off the ground. It than used flat teeth located in its cheeks to chew the plant material before swallowing.

After Minmi, a small ankylosaur, it is Australias most completely known dinosaur from skeletal remains. The species was initially described from a partial skeleton found by Doug Langdon in 1963 near the Thompson River, Muttaburra, Queensland, Australia, which place also provides the creatures name.

Muttaburrasaurus was named by Ralph E. Molinar and Alan Bartholomai in 1981.