Qantassaurus intrepidus is an extinct genus of elasmarian ornithischian dinosaur that lived in Australia during the Early Cretaceous period around 115 million years ago.
Classification[]
Qantassaurus is a basal iguanodont ornithopod that was originally assigned to the Hypsilophodontidae in 1999.
History[]
Qantassaurus was discovered on 27 February 1996, during the third annual field season of the dinosaur dreaming project, a dig jointly run by Monash university and the National museum of Victoria. the dig occurs on the beach of the Bunurong Marine Park at the intertidal site known as Flat Rock, near inverloch, in southeastern Victoria, Australia. the rock outcrops at this site are part of the Wonthaggi Formation of the Strzelecki group, which during the Aptian stage were deposited in floodplains with braided river channels. the holotype specimen, NMVP199075, A fifty-six millimetres long single left dentary of the lower jaw, containing ten teeth, was found by Mrs Nicole Evered, a long time participant of the dig. two other jaws, specimens NMV P198962, a left dentary, and NMV P199087, a right dentary, found at the same site the same year have also been tentatively associated with, or referred to, the species.
It was named Qantassaurus intrepidus by Patricia Vickers-Rich and tom rich, in honor of the Queensland and Northern Territory Air service, which shipped fossils around the country as part of the great Russian Dinosaurs Exhibit between 1993 and 1996, and sponsored expeditions to South America and Eastern Europe. QANTAS is an acronym, which is why a u does not follow the q in Qantassaurus. The specific name means "intrepid" in Latin, referring to the climatic challenges the small dinosaur had to face.
In popular culture[]
- Qantassaurus appeared on Dinosaur Train.
Gallery[]
Qantassaurus/Gallery