Muttaburrasaurus

Phylogeny: Dinosauria > Ornithischia > Genasauria > Neornithischia > Cerapoda > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia > Rhabdodontomorpha (?)

Overview: In the early 1960’s, an Australian rancher by the name of Doug Langdon came upon a set of fossilized dinosaur bones on his family’s property, in central Queensland. Paleontologists arrived to secure the remains for preparation, which took a number of years, and eventual scientific study. It was quickly recognized as a new genus, though Muttaburrasaurus wasn’t described as such until 1981. The creature’s generic name refers to the town of Muttaburra, located close to where it was found, while the name of the type species, Muttaburrasaurus langdoni, honors its discoverer. It’s a notable dinosaur, with the genus being based on one of the best preserved dinosaur skeletons yet to be found in Australia. Among the general public, Muttaburrasaurus is probably among the most famous of the nation’s dinosaur taxa, appearing in both popular and educational media. The most notable occasion was in the 1999 BBC documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs. All fossils are known from the Early Cretaceous-aged Mackunda Formation.

Recovered fossils of this animal include skull material, numerous vertebrae, the pelvis, its ribs, and a majority of its limbs. Much about its appearance is known, with its length having been somewhere around eight meters, so decently large for an ornithopod. While some older depictions have restored it as being able to walk on all fours, it was probably mostly or entirely bipedal. It had fairly strong jaws and tough, grinding teeth. Muttaburrasaurus is best known, however, for its tall, arched muzzle. This nasal bone was hollow, with some suggesting it stored fleshy sacs that could be inflated to perform courtship displays or to act as resonating chambers for making bellowing calls. Such tissue hasn’t been fossilized, however. Muttaburrasaurus is sometimes restored with thumb spikes, as it was once seen as a close relative of Iguanodon, but it likely didn’t have such a feature. Most recent studies classify it as a basal member of the Rhabdodontomorpha, close to Tenontosaurus. In 2024, however, one study found strong evidence that it actually belonged to the clade Elasmaria.