Marshosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Marshosaurus |
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| Skull cast | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Piatnitzkysauridae |
| Genus: | †Marshosaurus Madsen, 1976 |
| Species: |
†M. bicentesimus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Marshosaurus bicentesimus Madsen, 1976
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Marshosaurus was a medium-sized meat-eating dinosaur. It lived during the Upper Jurassic period, about 155 to 152 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in Utah and possibly Colorado, USA. This dinosaur shared its home with bigger predators like the famous Allosaurus. Marshosaurus was about 4.5 meters (15 feet) long and weighed around 200 kilograms (440 pounds).
Contents
Where Marshosaurus Lived
Marshosaurus lived in a place called the Morrison Formation. This area was a huge basin that stretched across North America. It went from New Mexico all the way up to Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.
The Ancient Environment
The Morrison Formation was formed by ancient rivers and swamps. These rivers carried sand and mud from the early Rocky Mountains. They deposited these sediments into lowlands, lakes, and floodplains. The climate back then was quite dry. There were clear wet and dry seasons, much like some parts of the world today.
Dinosaur Discoveries
The Morrison Formation is famous for its many dinosaur fossils. It's similar in age to other fossil sites around the world. These include the Solnhofen Limestone Formation in Germany and the Tendaguru Formation in Tanzania. In the late 1800s, this area became very important. Two early paleontologists, Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, competed to find the most fossils. This rivalry was known as the "Bone Wars."
Images for kids
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Reconstructed skull of Marshosaurus at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, based on referred material
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Ischium
See also
In Spanish: Marshosaurus bicentesimus para niños
 | Laphonza Butler |
 | Daisy Bates |
 | Elizabeth Piper Ensley |
