Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
274 / Mesozoic
Ouranosaurus
Ouranosaurus nigeriensis
Tall neural spines supported a sail, ridge or fatty hump whose soft-tissue shape remains uncertain.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 125–112 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- River deltas · Niger
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Ouranosaurus?
Ouranosaurus (Ouranosaurus nigeriensis) was an extinct organism known from About 125–112 million years ago, with a range in River deltas · Niger.
Life and ecology
Ouranosaurus was a large early hadrosauriform that browsed on two or four legs with a broad snout and dense dental batteries.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Ouranosaurus disappear?
Mid-Cretaceous changes in African habitats and herbivore faunas are possible context, but they do not establish why the genus disappeared.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Ouranosaurus?
Two fairly complete skeletons preserve the continuous tall spines, skull and forelimbs.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS