Fun Dinheirosaurus Facts For Kids

The Dinheirosaurus was a genus of Diplodocus Sauropod that was found during the late Jurassic period. It is still a monotype genus since the remains of only one type species called Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis have been discovered. Dinheirosaurus means Porto Dinheiro lizard. Fossils of the Dinheirosaurus recovered from Portugal suggest that it might have been a subspecies of the Supersaurus.

These dinosaurs of the Sauropoda order were first described as members of the Lourinhasauridae family. However, Bonaparte and Mateus spotted some differences in fossils of the Dinheisorosaurus.

It looked much more similar to the order Diplodocus and at present, it is known to be one of the Portuguese Diplodocids. This Diplodocid Sauropod coexisted alongside many other Sauropods, Ornithopods, and Theropod dinosaurs. Many Diplodocids were also present during that time, but the Dinheirosaurus presumably lived with only one Diplodocid in its temporal range.

In general, these Sauropods Dinheirosaurus resembled the North American Diplodocid. To explore more facts about the dinosaur, keep on reading.

For similar content, check out Chungkingosaurus facts and Ichthyovenator facts too.

Dinheirosaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce Dinheirosaurus?

The name Dinheirosaurus is pronounced din-hy-roe-sore-us. The English translation of the name means ‬Porto Dinheiro lizard. Porto is in reference to its origin from one of the islands in Europe, which are presently known as Portugal.

What type of dinosaur was a Dinheirosaurus?

The Dinheirosaurus was a type of Diplodocid Sauropod that lived during the early Tithonian stage of the late Jurassic period. Features of the dinosaur suggest that it was one of the herbivore Sauropods of the Jurassic era.

It also somewhat represented one of the species of Supersaurus. The dinosaur is classified as a Diplodocid on the basis of the discovered dorsal vertebrae, cervical vertebrae, pubis, gastroliths, and partial fragments of ribs.

In which geological period did the Dinheirosaurus roam the Earth?

The Dinheirosaurus is a dinosaur of the Sauropoda order whose fossils date back to the late Jurassic age. They were possibly present during the Tithonian age as well as the late Kimmeridgian age of the geological time period.

The Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic started about 152 million years ago, but the species came into existence before that. The Kimmeridgian stage preceded the Tithonian.

When did the Dinheirosaurus become extinct?

The precise time when the Dinheirosaurus was active cannot be estimated; it is believed that this dinosaur went extinct between 150-145 million years ago.

Where did a Dinheirosaurus live?

The name of this Sauropod means Porto Dinheiro Lizard. Porto represents that these dinosaurs possibly originated from Portugal. Its fossils were collected from the Porto cliff of the Lourinha formation in Portugal.

What was a Dinheirosaurus' habitat?

The Dinheirosaurus inhabited terrestrial habitats. Their snout shape indicates that they used to feed on the ground. They were probably abundant in grazing lands. The fossil was found along a coastal cliff.

Who did a Dinheirosaurus live with?

When the fossil of the type species Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis was discovered, it was not a part of a bone bed. This is strong evidence that stands against the assumption of Dinheirosaurus being a herding species.

How long did a Dinheirosaurus live?

The Dinheirosaurus emerged around 155.7 million years ago and lived through the Tithonian age. These dinosaurs lasted for about nine million years and finally became extinct 145 million years ago with the end of the Tithonian stage.

How did they reproduce?

The Dinheirosaurus was an egg layer. They reproduced by laying eggs, but information regarding the clutch size and the egg type is missing.

Dinheirosaurus Fun Facts

What did a Dinheirosaurus look like?

The Dinheirosaurus was a medium-sized late Jurassic period Sauropod that had features similar to North American Diplodocids. Most of the information about the dinosaur's physical description comes from remains of its type species called Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis that were discovered in Portugal.

The Dinheirosaurus was characterized by an elongated tail and neck. The unique feature of its anatomy was the dinosaur's vertebral column. Multiple vertebrae along the spinal cord have been observed in the animal.

The species is known from their discovered partial ribs, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, pubis, and gastroliths. Ribs attached to the cervical were much longer in length than normal.

The incomplete bone structure makes the identification of the animal uncertain. A complete set of dorsal vertebrae and two cervical vertebrae have been identified. They had a T-shaped cross-sectional area and displayed plesiomorphic characteristics.

How many bones did a Dinheirosaurus have?

The total number of bones present in the body is unknown since the Dinheirosaurus skeleton is not complete. Only some parts of the skeleton were excavated from Portugal, including two cervical vertebrae, almost all dorsal vertebrae, partial ribs, pubis, and gastrolith.

How did they communicate?

Dinosaurs communicated by vocalizations and visualizations. Similarly, the Dinheirosaurus can be assumed to have communicated via these means.

How big was a Dinheirosaurus?

The true length of a Dinheirosaurus is not known; researchers believe that the Dinheirosaurus size was 70-80 ft (21.3-24.4 m). They were twice the size of the Trachodon.

How fast could a Dinheirosaurus move?

The Dinheirosaurus was a mid-sized Sauropod; it was neither too slow nor too fast. However, the speed at which it moved is not estimated.

How much did a Dinheirosaurus weigh?

The average weight of a Dinheirosaurus was 15 ton (13,607.8 kg).

What were male and female names of the species?

Males and females of this species do not have any particular names. Both of them are regarded as Dinheirosaurus.

What would you call a baby Dinheirosaurus?

A baby Dinheirosaurus is referred to as a nestling or hatchling.

What did they eat?

The Dinheirosaurus had a herbivore diet. They possibly fed on plant matters, including leaves and shrubs. The square-shaped snout of the animal indicated that these dinosaurs were probably ground feeders.

How aggressive were they?

The Dinheirosaurus was apparently a herbivore animal that ate plants and shrubs. They are considered to be less aggressive than the flesh-eater.

Did you know...

The tail of the Dinheirosaurus was long enough to use as a whiptail. It used its tail like a bullwhip and moved it at a supersonic speed.

How did they get their name?

The holotype of this dinosaur was first discovered in 1987 by Carlos Anunciacao. The discovery process of the holotype went on for five more years. When Dantas announced the discovery of the specimen initially, the dinosaur was yet not named during the announcement.

At first, before the specimen was described, Dantas classified it as a Sauropod and included it under the genus Lourinhasaurus. Then the dinosaur was assigned the name Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis and grouped together with the Apatosaurus.

However, Jose Bonaparte, along with Octavio Mateus, studied remains of this new species of Lourinhasaurus thoroughly. Bonaparte and Mateus described the material for the first time in 1999 on the basis of fragmentary remains of cervical and dorsal vertebrae, partial ribs, gastroliths, and pubis that were recovered.

By studying their fossil structure, Mateus and Bonaparte concluded that these remains of the Lourinha formation cliff were more closely related to North American Diplodocids found from the Morrison formation.

This discovery called for a new binomial name for this Diplodocus Sauropod species. The name of the Diplodocid changed from Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis to Dinheirosaurus lourinhanensis.

The name Dinheirosaurus means Porto Dinheiro lizard. Dinheiro in Portuguese means money, and sauros is a Greek term for lizard. Porto refers to the location in which remains of the dinosaur were found, which was present-day Portugal.

How strong were their teeth?

There is no information regarding the dental biology of the species. Jawbones could not be recovered from what remained in their fossils. However, since the Dinheirosaurus were herbivores in nature, they had particularly strong jaws and teeth for grinding plants properly.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures by reading our Abrosaurus facts or Haplocanthosaurus facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable stomping dinosaur coloring pages.

Main image by Alamotitan

Second image by Dinosaurier-info.de