Qantassaurus
Name:
Qantassaurus
(Qantas lizard).
Phonetic: Kwan-tass-sore-us.
Named By: T. H. Rich & P.
Vickers-Rich - 1999.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Hypsilophodontidae?
Species: Q. intrepidus
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: By comparison to similar genera, roughly
estimated about 1.8 meters long.
Known locations: Australia, Victoria -
Wonthaggi Formation.
Time period: Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Jaw fragments.
Like
so many other Australian dinosaurs Qantassaurus is
known only from
frustratingly incomplete remains. At the time of writing the only
parts of this dinosaur that are known are partial jaws, but they are
still distinct enough to recognise as a new type of dinosaur.
Qantassaurus has been classified as a
hypsilophodontid dinosaur,
which meant that it would have been a small fast running bipedal plant
eater that would have browsed upon low growing vegetation. However
while certainly similar to hypsilophodontid dinosaurs, there is now
speculation that Qantassaurus and similar dinosaurs
from Australia and
Antarctica may actually need their own distinctive group.
Qantassaurus
was named after the Qantas airline in recognition of the work and
funding supplied by this company to support museum displays and conduct
paleontological digs.
Further reading
- The Hypsilophodontidae from southeastern Australia. Proceedings
of the Second Gondwanan Dinosaur Symposium, - National Science
Museum Monographs 15:167-180. - T. H. Rich & P.
Vickers-Rich - 1999.
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