Leaellynasaura
| Leaellynasaura | ||||||||||||
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Graphic representation of Leaellynasaura |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Lower Cretaceous (early Albian ) | ||||||||||||
| 112.9 to 110.2 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Leaellynasaura | ||||||||||||
| Rich & Vickers-Rich , 1989 | ||||||||||||
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Leaellynasaura is a genus of small ornithopod dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous (early Albium , about 113 to 110 million years ago) of Australia . This herbivore, which is around 60 to 90 centimeters long, was discovered together with fossils of other species in the “dinosaur cave” in the Australian state of Victoria .
Paleecology
The Australian continent lay in the Lower Cretaceous not far from the Arctic Circle and thus assumed a position further south than it is today. Dinosaurs like Leaellynasaura could therefore live much further south than is possible today for reptiles . The same applies to Cryolophosaurus , a theropod dinosaur whose fossils were discovered in what is now Antarctica . This proves that dinosaurs could exist in conditions that have long been considered unsuitable for them.
Due to the high geographical latitude , the sun did not shine for a long time in the habitat of Leaellynasaura ( polar night ). So Leaellynasaura might have had to live in the dark for months. This would explain the large eyes as well as the relatively large visual cortex in the brain, which can be interpreted as adaptations to a life in the dark.
Discovery story
The married couple Thomas H. Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich published the first scientific description of the type species L. amicagraphica in 1989 . The description is based on skull fragments, teeth and isolated bones. The genus, to which only one species belongs, was named by the two paleontologists after their daughter Leaellyn.
literature
- Thomas H. Rich , Patricia V. Rich : Polar dinosaurs and biotas of the Early Cretaceous of southeastern Australia. In: National Geographic Research. Vol. 5, No. 1, 1989, ISSN 8755-724X , pp. 15-53.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 276, online .