Question 1

How do you say Muttaburrasaurus?

Accepted Answer

You say it like this: MUT-a-BURR-a-SORE-us. Break it into five chunks and say them one at a time: MUT, then a, then BURR, then a, then SORE-us. The stress lands hardest on MUT and BURR and SORE. Once you get the rhythm of it, it actually rolls off the tongue pretty smoothly for such a long word.

Question 2

What does Muttaburrasaurus mean?

Accepted Answer

The name means 'Muttaburra lizard.' Muttaburra is the name of a small outback town in Queensland, Australia, near where the dinosaur's bones were first found in 1963. The second part of the name, saurus, comes from the Ancient Greek word for lizard or reptile. The species name, langdoni, honors Doug Langdon, the cattle farmer who discovered the original skeleton.

Question 3

How big was Muttaburrasaurus?

Accepted Answer

Muttaburrasaurus was about 8 meters long, which is roughly 26 feet, making it about as long as a standard school bus. It weighed around 2,000 kilograms, close to the weight of a white rhinoceros. It stood approximately 4 to 5 meters tall at the hip when fully upright, so it would have towered over most adults if you could stand next to one.

Question 4

Where was Muttaburrasaurus found?

Accepted Answer

The original Muttaburrasaurus skeleton was found near the Thomson River close to the town of Muttaburra in central Queensland, Australia, in 1963. A second important skull was later discovered at Lightning Ridge in New South Wales in 1987. Both locations are in eastern Australia, and the dinosaur is now considered one of the most important prehistoric finds ever made on the continent.

Question 5

What did Muttaburrasaurus eat?

Accepted Answer

Muttaburrasaurus was a herbivore, meaning it ate only plants. It had unusual scissor-like shearing teeth that were quite different from the grinding teeth of most of its plant-eating relatives. Scientists think these bladed teeth were designed for cutting through tough, fibrous vegetation like cycads and ferns that were common during the Cretaceous period. It may have browsed both high in trees and lower to the ground depending on what was available.

Question 6

When did Muttaburrasaurus live?

Accepted Answer

Muttaburrasaurus lived during the Albian to Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous period, approximately 100 to 94 million years ago. This was the middle of the Age of Dinosaurs. At that time, Australia was still a cooler, wetter place than it is today and was slowly drifting northward after breaking away from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana.

Question 7

What is the bump on Muttaburrasaurus's nose?

Accepted Answer

That bump is called a cranial crest, and it is one of the most distinctive features of Muttaburrasaurus. It sat on top of the snout and was hollow inside rather than solid bone. Scientists think it may have worked like a resonating chamber, amplifying the dinosaur's calls so they could travel further across the landscape. This would have been useful for communicating with a herd, warning about predators, or attracting mates.

Question 8

Was Muttaburrasaurus dangerous?

Accepted Answer

Muttaburrasaurus was a herbivore and did not hunt or eat other animals. However, being nearly as heavy as a white rhinoceros and standing several meters tall, it was far from defenseless. Like modern large herbivores, it could probably kick or charge if threatened. Its sheer size would have made many predators think twice before attacking a healthy adult.

Question 9

Is Muttaburrasaurus the state fossil of Queensland?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it is the only dinosaur in the world with that distinction in Australia. In 2013, Muttaburrasaurus was officially declared the fossil emblem of the state of Queensland. It was chosen from a shortlist of twelve prehistoric candidates. This makes Muttaburrasaurus a genuine celebrity in Australian natural history, similar to how some American states have official state fossils like T. rex in Montana.

Question 10

How complete is the Muttaburrasaurus skeleton?

Accepted Answer

Muttaburrasaurus is the second most completely known dinosaur from skeletal remains ever found in Australia, after Kunbarrasaurus. That is a big deal because most Australian dinosaurs are known only from fragments like isolated teeth or single bones. Having a largely complete skeleton allows scientists to study how it moved, how heavy it was, and how it compares to dinosaurs from other parts of the world.

Question 11

Who discovered Muttaburrasaurus?

Accepted Answer

Muttaburrasaurus was discovered in 1963 by Doug Langdon, a Queensland cattle farmer who spotted bones eroding out of a riverbank near the Thomson River close to Muttaburra. He was not a professional paleontologist but had the curiosity and good sense to report his find. The dinosaur was later formally named and described by paleontologists Alan Bartholomai and Ralph Molnar in 1981, and the species name langdoni was given in Doug Langdon's honor.

Question 12

What group of dinosaurs does Muttaburrasaurus belong to?

Accepted Answer

Muttaburrasaurus belongs to a group called ornithopods, which were bird-hipped, plant-eating dinosaurs that walked on two legs. It is also classified within the broader group Iguanodontia. Where exactly it fits within those groups is still debated by scientists. Some studies place it in a group called Rhabdodontomorpha, while newer research suggests it may belong to a group called Elasmaria, which also includes dinosaurs from South America and Antarctica.

Question 13

Can you see a Muttaburrasaurus skeleton anywhere?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The original fossil material is held at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane, Australia. A full-size replica of the complete skeleton is also on display at the town of Muttaburra itself in Queensland, standing as a tribute to the discovery that put the small outback town on the global paleontology map. The Lightning Ridge fossil skull is associated with collections in New South Wales.

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