Fun Dravidosaurus Facts For Kids

Dravidosaurus is a highly debated dinosaur specimen. This dinosaur specimen is also commonly known as the Dravidanadu lizard. Want to know why? Keep reading to know the answer!

These dinosaur fossil remains have been found in South India. Certain researchers have suggested that this dinosaur specimen was the last Stegosaur species to survive.

Stegosaurs were herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs that had plates along their spine. These dinosaurs existed between the Jurassic and Late Cretaceous periods. The fossils of stegosaurian dinosaurs have mainly been found in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia.

Dravidosaurus, being a debated member of the Stegosaurus, is said to be the smallest member of the team.

How excited are you to read about these fantastic facts on the Dravidosaurus? For more relatable content, check out these Homalocephale facts and Ostafrikasaurus facts for kids.

Dravidosaurus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Dravidosaurus'?

The name of this dinosaur of the Cretaceous age is pronounced as 'day-Vid-ow-saw-rus'.

What type of dinosaur was a Dravidosaurus?

The Dravidosaurus is a type of prehistoric reptile, which was earlier assigned as a stegosaurian.

In which geological period did the Dravidosaurus roam the earth?

The Dravidosaurus specimens roamed the earth between the Pennsylvanian sub-period to the Cenozoic Era of the Late Cretaceous period.

When did the Dravidosaurus become extinct?

This mistaken plesiosaur species became extinct about 140 million years ago.

Where did a Dravidosaurus live?

The Dravidosaurus is said to have roamed around the earth on the land of India. The remains of the Dravidosaurus have been discovered in marine deposits, close to Ariyalur which is situated in Tamil Nadu, South India.

What was a Dravidosaurus's habitat?

The Dravidosaurus dinosaur preferred terrestrial habitats.

Who did a Dravidosaurus live with?

We are not aware of who the Dravidosaurus lived with. They might have been solitary or lived in groups like other herbivore dinosaurs.

How long did a Dravidosaurus live?

Sorry, we are not sure how long this dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous period lived up to.

How did they reproduce?

 There is not much evidence on how the specimens of the Dravidosaurus genus reproduced.

Dravidosaurus Fun Facts

What did a Dravidosaurus look like?

It had been estimated that the Dravidanadu lizard of the Cretaceous period grew up to a body length of 10 ft (3 m). It was said that it could have been the smallest specimen of its group.

However, recent studies have shown that the bones which were thought to belong to these specimens were actually of a plesiosaurian marine reptile. None of the remains obtained are of dinosaur origin.

All that is obtained from the Dravidosaurus remains are said to be a partial skull, an ischium, a dermal plate, a tooth, a sacrum, a spike, and an ilium. These remains have been affected due to bad weather and other environmental situations.

The holotype partial skull has been cataloged specifically as GSI SR Pal 1, whereas that of other specimens has been cataloged as GSI SR Pal 2-7.

Galton has additionally mentioned a tail spike in the anatomy of these specimens with an expanded middle section. Possible reasons for this structure may have been to resist the breakage of bones during situations of combat against other creatures.

How many bones did a Dravidosaurus have?

The entire fossil remains of this dinosaur have not been retrieved and so the exact number of bones this dinosaur might have had hasn't been determined.

How did they communicate?

Since the dinosaurs were extinct long before human existence, we are not sure how these specimens communicated. It is assumed that they communicated with grunts and actions.

How big was a Dravidosaurus?

The Dravidosaurus is assumed to have been 10-14 ft (3-4.3 m) in length.

How fast could a Dravidosaurus move?

Sorry, we do not have the information on the speed of this dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous age.

How much did a Dravidosaurus weigh?

These dinosaur species weighed around 803 lb (364.2 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

A female dinosaur of this genus may be called a Dravidosaura, while a male can be referred to as a Dravidosaur.

What would you call a baby Dravidosaurus?

A baby dinosaur can be called a hatchling.

What did they eat?

It has been said that this plesiosaur species followed a herbivore diet, depending on the plants and vegetation in its surrounding.

How aggressive were they?

Not much is known about the behavior of these dinosaurs.

Did you know...

The Dravidosaurus is a very controversial genus of the reptiles of the prehistoric world. Earlier, this specimen was described as the last surviving member of the Stegosauria suborder, the group of all ‘plated’ dinosaurs.

In the year 1991, Indian paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee visited the same site.

Without providing any sort of strong morphological evidence, he affirmed that the Dravidanadu lizard was actually based on hindlimb and pelvic elements of the plesiosaur, with the species being classified as a nomen dubium.

However, in the year 2004, this confirmed claim was entirely rejected by Peter Galton and Upchurch, who stated that the plate, tooth, and skull of the Dravidosaurus were certainly not of the plesiosaurian type.

Ayyasami and Galton together reaffirmed in the year 2017 that the remains of this reptile were not of plesiosaurian type.

Many dinosaurs have been discovered in India. Let us have a look at some of these species. Some dinosaurs of the Early Jurassic period include Barapasaurus, Kotasaurus, Lamplughsaura, and Pradhania. Dinosaurs of the Late Triassic period found on the Indian land include Alwalkeria, Jaklapallisaurus, and Nambalia.

The Late Cretaceous dinosaurs whose fossil remains were found in India include Bruhathkayosaurus, Dahalokely, Indosaurus, Indosuchus, Isisaurus, Jainosaurus, Laevisuchus, Masiakasaurus, Majungasaurus, Rahonavis, Rapetosaurus, Rahonavis, Rahiolisaurus, and Vahiny.

The Stegosaurus specimens are also called roof-lizards. Stegosaurus dinosaurs are one of the most famous choices for children's toys for their unique plate design across the back.

Believe this or not - it is said that the size of the Stegosaurus brain was almost as big as a walnut!

The Stegosaurus was believed to be a very close relative of the Ankylosaurus, also called 'armored dinosaurs'.

Early research on the Stegosaurus suggested that these dinosaurs walked on two legs, however, it was later dismissed.

The Stegosaurus is the state dinosaur of the western American state of Colorado.

Was the Dravidosaurus native to India?

The fossil remains of the Dravidosaurus genus were discovered mainly in south India.

What does Dravidosaurus mean?

The name Dravidosaurus simply means ‘Dravidanadu lizard’. Dravidanadu is the name of a region in South India where the fossil remains of this species were discovered.

This type species was named in the year 1979 by Krishnan Ayyasami and P.M. Yadagiri as Dravidosaurus blanfordi. This specific name was assigned as an honor to English geologist and naturalist William Thomas Blanford.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other dinosaurs from our Yinlong facts and Zuniceratops facts pages.

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

Main image by Thomas Quine.

Second image by Susannah Maidment et al. & Natural History Museum, London.

*We've been unable to source an image of Dravidosaurus and have used an image of Stegosaurus instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of Dravidosaurus, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.