Fun Balaur Facts For Kids
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Balaur was a type of dinosaur that existed more than 70 million years ago.
Balaur existed in Europe when the continent was in its Late Cretaceous phase. It belongs to the same genus as the dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur.
The most interesting and unique thing about the Balaur is that instead of having one sickle claw on its foot, it had two. These sickle claws had three fingers. The third finger on the sickle claws is assumed to be non-functional that had just one rudimentary phalanx. These unique-looking dinosaurs lived on Hateg Island.
The genus of this creature was described not long ago, in 2010. Many animals became Extinct before any of us existed. Balaur is one such animal. Let us know more about it through Balaur Facts!
Balaur Interesting Facts
How do you pronounce 'Balaur'?
Balaur is pronounced as 'Baˈla-ur'. The name 'Balaur' is a Romanian one, and so is its pronunciation. The animal has only one species called Balaur bondoc. It is pronounced as 'Ba-la-ur bon-dok'.
What type of dinosaur was a Balaur?
Balaur belonged to the genus of theropod dinosaurs. The Balaur lost its ability to fly or had a reduced capability when it comes to flight and is known to be from the Late Cretaceous period. However, it is said to have been a flightless.
In which geological period did the Balaur roam the Earth?
Balaur bondoc belonged to the Maastrichtian stage in Late Cretaceous period in Europe. This period existed about 70 million years ago.
When did the Balaur become Extinct?
It is not known when the Balaur Bondoc, in particular, became Extinct.
Where did Balaur live?
Balaur bondoc lived in Europe, its southern parts in particular. The Hateg Islands were home to Balaur. At that time, the sea levels used to be much higher than what they are today. So the continent of Europe was a collection of multiple islands and Hateg Islands were one of these islands.
What was the Balaur's habitat?
Balaur used to live on islands. This means that they lived in a habitat that was surrounded by water. It lived in mixed forests. The habitat of this flightless creature also consisted of temperate broadleaf, Mediterranean forests, and beaches.
Who did the Balaur live with?
The Balaur was mostly a solitary animal. Only during the breeding season, the Balaur bondoc would pair up with another Balaur bondoc of the opposite sex to mate.
How long did a Balaur live?
On average, the natural lifespan of Balaur is believed to be six years.
How did they reproduce?
Not much is really known about the reproduction process of Balaur. Reproduction in Balaur happened through an oviparous process. This means that Balaur reproduced by laying eggs.
In this kind of reproduction, the young ones hatch after they are out of the body of their mother. In this process, more than one egg can be produced. As for the Balaur, the number of eggs laid in each batch remains unknown.
Balaur Fun Facts
What did the Balaur look like?
Balaur was a type of dinosaur. However, it looked quite different than other dinosaurs. It was heavily built with a distinct outward bowing pubic bone.
The hand and wrist bones of the Balaur looked fused. The Balaur had strange feet which looked fused up as well. The toe claw was huge as compared to the body size of Balaur.
The first toe or the hallux of the sickle claws was long. The foot anatomy was in contrast to the stocky feet of this animal.
Balaur had a couple of sickle claws on both of its feet. All these facts about the appearance of Balaur are extracted from a partial skeleton of the animals that were retrieved in its headless form. It belonged to the Late Cretaceous period.
How many bones did a Balaur have?
The exact number of bones that a Balaur had is not yet known. On average, some dinosaurs had 200 bones in their body.
How did they communicate?
The communication process of the Balaur, in particular, has not yet been discovered. Dinosaurs used to communicate through sound, vision, sight, and body language. Such communication procedures would comprise of hoots, cracking, and hollers.
How big was the Balaur?
The Balaur was larger than a modern-day bird. Approximately, Balaur had a length of 6–7 ft (1.8–2 m). It was almost the same size as an emu, the second-largest modern-bird in terms of height. Another modern-day bird, ostrich, has a height of 9 ft (2.7 m).
How fast could a Balaur move?
The speed of a Balaur remains unknown.
How much did a Balaur weigh?
The average Balaur weighed 25 lb (11 kg).
What were the male and female names of the species?
The male and female names of this dinosaur remain unknown. However, it is possible that they didn't have any specific names assigned based on their sexes.
What would you call a baby Balaur?
Baby dinosaurs are known as nestlings or hatchlings.
How aggressive were they?
Considering that this creature was a dinosaur, they were quite aggressive hunters. Even though their prey was mostly smaller animals, the Balaur could also take on animals that were bigger.
Did You Know…
Like most dinosaurs, it can be said that the Balaur defended itself by using its claws, tail, and teeth as weapons against attack. Herding, camouflaging, and running away, were also commonly used defense techniques in dinosaurs.
The Balaur, despite being aggressive, did not have any evidence of spitting venom or possessing any venomous saliva.
The Balaur did not have neck frills, but its neck was covered with feathers.
Although the Balaur was like a bird in a few ways, it could not fly. This was probably because of the heavy build of the Balaur.
Zoltán Csikia named the Balaur. This name was derived from folklore from Romania, which mentioned a dragon of this name. The name translates to 'stocky dragon'.
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*We've been unable to source an image of Balaur and have used an image of T-Rex instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of Balaur, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.
**We've been unable to source an image of Balaur and have used an image of T-Rex instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of Balaur, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.
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