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Notohypsilophodon, Late CretaceousBajo Barreal Formation, Argentina · named 1998
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Notohypsilophodon

"southern Hypsilophodon"

Lived
101 to 90 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
Diet
Herbivore
Group
Ornithopods
Found in
Argentina
Named by
Martínez 1998

Where its fossils were found

The evidence

Today

1 find

95 million years ago

Map: C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP

Habitat

It lived on a river floodplain with conifers and flowering plants. Other dinosaurs from the Bajo Barreal Formation include Epachthosaurus, Sarmientosaurus and Xenotarsosaurus.

Field notes

About Notohypsilophodon

What it was like

Notohypsilophodon was a small, two-legged plant eater known from a partial skeleton. It was named as a southern relative of Hypsilophodon, but its exact place among the ornithopods is debated.

Its world

It lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Argentina. Its bones come from the Bajo Barreal Formation, where it shared the land with the titanosaurs Epachthosaurus and Sarmientosaurus.

How it was found

Martínez named it in 1998 from one find.

Field gallery

More views of Notohypsilophodon

Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.

Notohypsilophodon in its habitat, photo 1

1 of 3

Lived alongside

Found in the same rock formations

A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Notohypsilophodon.

The evidence

The science behind Notohypsilophodon

Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.

From its own fossils

  • A partial skeleton preserves vertebrae from the neck to the base of the tail, ribs, part of a shoulder blade and coracoid, an upper arm bone, both ulnae, part of a thigh bone, both shins, ankle bones and toe bones. No skull or hip bones were found.
  • The upper arm bone is slender, bowed and slightly twisted, with a much reduced crest for the shoulder muscles. Its shinbone is straight and slender, with a distinctive bulge near the upper end.
  • Its toe claws are pointed and triangular, with flat undersides.

Borrowed from relatives

  • The missing head is restored from Lesothosaurus, the neck and the end of the tail from Agilisaurus, and the hips from Hexinlusaurus.
  • Its missing radius and the long bones of its feet follow Agilisaurus, and its hands follow Minimocursor, while its own slender limb bones and toe claws set their shape.

Still unknown

  • The shape of its skull and teeth.
  • Its exact place in the ornithopod family tree. It was first placed among the hypsilophodontids, which are no longer treated as a natural group.
  • Whether the stones found with its bones were swallowed to help process food.

Discovery timeline

  1. 1998Named itMartínez
  2. 2014RedescriptionIBIRICU et al.
  3. 2016Same rocksMartínez et al.

Key papers

The research behind what we know of Notohypsilophodon

Close relatives

Other members of Elasmaria

Sources: Wikidata