Mussaurus

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Categories: Invalid conservation status | Triassic dinosaurs | Dinosaurs of South America | Prosauropods | Dinosaur stubs

Mussasaurus
Fossil range: Late Triassic - Early Jurassic

Conservation status

n/a (fossil)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Sauropodomorpha
Infraorder:	Prosauropoda
Genus:	Mussaurus

Binomial name

Mussaurus patagonicus
Bonaparte & Vince, 1979

Mussaurus (meaning "mouse lizard") was a genus of plant-eating dinosaur known from 20 to 37 cm-long (8 to 15 in) fossilized juvenile and infant skeletons, which are the smallest dinosaur skeletons known. Mussaurus was a very early dinosaur, dating from the Late Triassic Period about 215 million years ago. The infant skeleton was small, about the size of a small lizard.

The juveniles had short heads and necks, long tails, and large eye sockets. Adults had longer necks, and probably reached 5 m (16 ft) in length, and weighed 120 kg (260 lb).

Mussaurus is classified as a incertae sedis sauropodomorph dinosaur, and may be a prosauropod or an early sauropod. Coloradisaurus may be an adult Mussaurus. Mussaurus lived in Argentina. Mussaurus makes a brief appearance in The Lost World by Michael Crichton.