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Muttaburrasaurus langdoni
How big was it?
It was a sizable 7 metres from snout to tail.

What did it eat?
There is some disagreement among scientists about whether Muttaburrasaurus was strictly a plant-eater.It has the typical beak of a plant eater, but its back teeth are more suitable for slicing or shearing things than grinding them up. It appears capable of chopping up chunks of meat, but most experts think that the unusual back teeth were used to slice off the tough fronds of cycads. The back of its skull is larger than in similar dinosaurs and had more muscle, indicating that Muttaburrasaurus had an incredibly strong bite useful for chomping on the toughest plants.

 Muttaburrasaurus
Muttaburrasaurus
Click image to zoom

Why does it have such a strange snout?
The fossil skulls of Muttaburrasaurus have a very unusual arch above the nose which creates a large hollow chamber on the top of the snout. There are two ideas about what it was for. The first is that it somehow enhanced its sense of smell, but there seems to be no reason why it should need an acute sense of smell. The other is that it helped them make loud calls to one another over large distances. All we have left is remnants of the bony structure, so we can’t be sure. One modern animal that has an elaborate fleshy snout is the saiga antelope. It uses it to filter out dust in summer and to heat icy cold air in the winter. Perhaps the snout of the Muttaburrasaurus in some similar way enabled it to live in difficult environments.

Did they live in herds?
If they did make loud calls, they were social animals and probably lived in herds like elephants.

Muttaburrasaurus Links

Queensland museum
“… Muttaburrasaurus langdoni was discovered by local grazier Doug Langdon, for whom the dinosaur is named…” Queensland museum site with image of their skeleton.
externalhttp://www.qmuseum.qld.gov.au/features/dinosaurs/muttaburrasaurus.asp

BBC Walking With Dinosaurs
“… Muttaburrasaurus had very powerful jaws which were equipped with shearing teeth. These were probably an adaptation for eating tough vegetation such as cycads,…”
Part of the BBC Walking With Dinosaurs site with a 3D model that you can click to see various details.
externalhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/dinosaurs/fact_files/forest/muttaburra.shtml

ABC Walking With Dinosaurs
Information about dinky-di dinosaurs compiled by Quantum's Leigh Dayton and Dr. Paul Willis.
https://www.abc.net.au/dinosaurs/meet_the_dinos/ozdino1.htm

Dann’s Dinosaur Pages
“… Muttaburrasaurus was first found on Rosebury Downs station beside the Thompson river near the town of Muttaburra in Queensland, Australia, in 1963…”
externalhttp://www.alphalink.com.au/~dannj/muttab.htm

Lost Kingdoms
Exhibit from the Australian Museum covering Australia's fossil history from 110 million years ago.
externalhttp://www.lostkingdoms.com/facts/factsheet5.htm

Australian Museum
Australian Museum’s Web In a Box Fossil section.
“… Muttaburrasaurus langdoni was discovered near the town of Muttaburra in central Queensland by a grazier called Doug Langdon..”.
externalhttp://www.amonline.net.au/webinabox/fossils/australian/muttaburrasaurus.htm


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