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Transylvanosaurus, Late CretaceousPui Beds Formation, Romania · named 2022
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Transylvanosaurus

"lizard from beyond the forest"

Lived
72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
Diet
Herbivore
Group
Ornithopods
Found in
Romania
Named by
Augustin et al. 2022

Where its fossils were found

The evidence

Today

1 find

Habitat

It lived on an island with winding rivers and floodplains that were dry for part of the year. Zalmoxes, Telmatosaurus and Magyarosaurus also lived in this region of what is now Romania.

Field notes

About Transylvanosaurus

What it was like

Transylvanosaurus was a small plant eater related to Rhabdodon. It is known from part of a skull.

Its world

It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous, in what is now Romania. It shared an island world with the small plant eater Zalmoxes, the duckbill relative Telmatosaurus and the dwarf sauropod Magyarosaurus. Its skull looks more like those of French relatives than local ones.

How it was found

Augustin and colleagues named Transylvanosaurus in 2022.

Field gallery

More views of Transylvanosaurus

Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.

Transylvanosaurus 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 Transylvanosaurus.

The evidence

The science behind Transylvanosaurus

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

From its own fossils

  • The type specimen consists of the braincase and paired bones from the roof of the skull.
  • The skull-roof bones are unusually wide and carry a ridge across their front.
  • A conference report by the authors assigned another partial skull to Transylvanosaurus because of its broad frontal with a front ridge. It includes that skull-roof bone, a toothless part of the upper jaw and part of the lower jaw with teeth.

Borrowed from relatives

  • The missing front of the snout and body are inferred from broader iguanodontian comparisons such as Iani.
  • The naming study compared its braincase with Rhabdodon from France and found closer similarities than with the local Zalmoxes.
  • Fona supplies a broader comparison for the missing hands and feet.

Still unknown

  • The complete shape of its jaws, limbs and tail.
  • Its full-grown size, skin texture and color.
  • Its exact closest relatives.

Discovery timeline

  1. 2003Same rocksWeishampel et al.
  2. 2012Its worldŐsi et al.
  3. 2022Named itAugustin et al.
  4. 2023Full descriptionZanno et al.
  5. 2024Full descriptionAvrahami et al.

Key papers

The research behind what we know of Transylvanosaurus

Close relatives

Other members of Rhabdodontomorpha

Sources: Wikidata