Bagualosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bagualosaurus |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Restoration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Bagualosaurus
|
| Species: |
agudoensis
|
Bagualosaurus (say "Bah-goo-ah-low-SAWR-us") means "bagel lizard." This cool name comes from a local word in Brazil. It was a type of dinosaur called a sauropodomorph. These dinosaurs were often very large plant-eaters.
Bagualosaurus is the seventh sauropodomorph found in Brazil. Scientists described it in 2018. The full scientific name for this dinosaur is Bagualosaurus agudoensis. It lived a very long time ago, about 223 to 230 million years ago.
Contents
How Was Bagualosaurus Discovered?
The main fossil of Bagualosaurus was found in 2007. It was discovered in a small valley near a pond in a place called Agudo, Brazil. This fossil included parts of its skull and jaw. It also had twelve back bones, two tail bones, and parts of its hips and legs.
For a while, the fossil stayed in a closet at a university lab. This is sometimes called "drawer paleontology." It means fossils are stored away before scientists can study them fully. On May 25, 2018, scientists finally described it as a new sauropodomorph dinosaur.
What Did Bagualosaurus Look Like?
How Big Was Bagualosaurus?
Bagualosaurus was not as huge as some later sauropods. It grew to be about 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) long. That's about the length of a small car! It stood about 1.3 meters (4.2 feet) tall.
What Did Bagualosaurus Eat?
Scientists believe Bagualosaurus ate only plants. This type of diet is called herbivorous. Its teeth were already well-suited for munching on leaves and other plants.
This is very important for understanding dinosaur history. Later sauropods, like the giant long-necked dinosaurs, were also plant-eaters. They also became incredibly big. Scientists think that eating lots of plants might have helped these early sauropodomorphs, like Bagualosaurus, start to grow much larger over time. This could have led to the gigantism seen in later sauropods.
Where Did Bagualosaurus Live?
Bagualosaurus lived in an area known as the Santa Maria Formation. This was a specific environment in ancient Brazil. It shared its home with other interesting dinosaurs and reptiles.
Some of its neighbors included other plant-eating sauropodomorphs. There were also meat-eaters like Buriolestes, which was a carnivorous sauropodomorph. Other creatures included Cerritosaurus, a type of reptile called a proterochampsid, and possibly Staurikosaurus, which might have been an early theropod dinosaur.
Images for kids
-
Life restoration and size diagram
See also
In Spanish: Bagualosaurus agudoensis para niños
