Mussaurus

Mussaurus patagonicus, fossil of a young animal

• Laguna Colorada Formation in Santa Cruz ( Argentina)

Mussaurus ( = " mouse lizard" ) is a herbivorous dinosaur from the group of Sauropodomorpha, which in South America during the Late Triassic ( Norian ) lived. The only way is Mussaurus patagonicus.

Discovery

Mussaurus was discovered in 1979 in South America and described in the same year. Basis of the description were a nest with two eggs and extremely small juvenile skeletons of about 25 to 30 cm in length. Some medium-sized skeletons, lead on to larger, about three feet long specimens as Plateosaurus sp. have been described, which differ from Plateosaurus but by a different position of the third sacral vertebra, as well as a different size and shape of the skull lying in the sight window.

The weight of the pups is estimated to be about 1 kg, which is probably 0.2 to 0.4 % of the weight of adult animals.