Kunbarrasaurus
"shield lizard"
- Lived
- 106 to 101 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Ankylosaurs
- Found in
- Australia
- Named by
- Leahey et al. 2015
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
105 million years ago
Habitat
It lived on land beside Australia's shallow inland sea. Muttaburrasaurus and Austrosaurus also left bones in the region's marine rocks.
Field notes
About Kunbarrasaurus
What it was like
Kunbarrasaurus was a small armored plant eater. It had bony plates and studs across its body, even on its belly, and a narrow head. Its skeleton is one of the most complete dinosaur skeletons found in Australia.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous in Australia. Its bones were found in the Toolebuc Formation, which formed on the floor of a shallow inland sea, so its body probably washed out to sea after death.
How it was found
For years the skeleton was thought to belong to another Australian ankylosaur. Leahey and colleagues gave it its own name in 2015. The first part of its name comes from a local language.
Field gallery
More views of Kunbarrasaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
The evidence
The science behind Kunbarrasaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A largely complete skeleton includes a well-preserved skull and bony armor.
- The skull's armor lies mostly flat, with shallow ridges on the rear cheeks rather than horns.
- Scans reveal an unusually large inner ear and spacious passages inside the snout.
Borrowed from relatives
- Much of the body is known from its own skeleton; missing portions can be compared with southern armored relatives such as Stegouros and Antarctopelta.
Still unknown
- The exact shape of the missing tip of its snout.
- Its color and the thickness of the skin over its armor.
- How its armor changed as it grew.
Discovery timeline
- 2015Named itLeahey et al.
- 2021Family treeSoto-Acuña et al.
- 2022New findFrauenfelder et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Kunbarrasaurus
Named it
Named Kunbarrasaurus after studying its skull, including its flat armor, unusual inner ear and nasal passages.
Cranial osteology of the ankylosaurian dinosaur formerly known as Minmi sp. (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Lower Cretaceous Allaru Mudstone of Richmond, Queensland, Australia. PeerJ 3: e1475
Read the paper : Cranial osteology of the ankylosaurian dinosaur formerly known as Minmi sp. (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Lower Cretaceous Allaru Mudstone of Richmond, Queensland, Australia (opens in a new tab)Family tree
Grouped Kunbarrasaurus with Stegouros and Antarctopelta in an early branch of southern armored dinosaurs.
Bizarre tail weaponry in a transitional ankylosaur from subantarctic Chile. Nature 600: 259-263
Read the paper : Bizarre tail weaponry in a transitional ankylosaur from subantarctic Chile (opens in a new tab)New find
Described an older partial skull provisionally referred to Kunbarrasaurus, with similar features in the roof of the mouth.
New Ankylosaurian Cranial Remains From the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Albian) Toolebuc Formation of Queensland, Australia. Frontiers in Earth Science 10
Read the paper : New Ankylosaurian Cranial Remains From the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Albian) Toolebuc Formation of Queensland, Australia (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Parankylosauria
Sources: Wikidata