Fun Hungarosaurus Facts For Kids

Do you find dinosaurs interesting? Then here we have all the information on Hungarosaurus. Hungarosaurus were a species of nodosaurid ankylosaur that lived during the Santonian age of the upper or late Cretaceous period. The exact time of their extinction has not been deduced, so it's believed that the mass extinction event that took place at the tail-end of the Cretaceous period led to their extinction. Their fossils were found in the upper Cretaceous of Hungary. More specifically, the fossils of these Hungarian dinosaurs were found at the Csehbánya Formation which is located in West Hungary. Some of these fossils were found complete and some in partial forms. The four specimens of this dinosaur were found very close together, so it's assumed that they probably lived in a group. The Hungarosaurus were slightly more advanced than another European nodosaurid by the name of Struthiosaurus.

Read on to know more about the Hungarosaurus and if you like this article, then also check out nodosaurus and silvisaurus facts.

How do you pronounce 'Hungarosaurus'?

The phonetic pronunciation of the 'Hungarosaurus' is 'Hun-gar-o-sore-us'.

What type of dinosaur was a Hungarosaurus?

Hungarosaurus tormai is a species of ankylosaur that belongs to the family Nodosauridae of dinosaurs.

In which geological period did the Hungarosaurus roam the earth?

These Hungarian dinosaurs roamed the earth around 86.3 million years ago during the Upper Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era. It has been found out after researching the fossils that they lived during the Santonian age.

When did the Hungarosaurus become extinct?

Due to a lack of data, the exact time when Hungarosaurus faced extinction is not yet known. However, they emerged around 86.3 million years ago during the Santonian age of the upper Cretaceous period. The incident that marked the end of the Cretaceous period and the end of the Mesozoic era was a mass extinction event. This event caused the extinction of many plants and animals about 66 million years ago at the end of the Maastrichtian age. The extinction of the Hungarosaurus may be related to that event as well. Hence, it's assumed that the Hungarosaurus faced extinction about 66 million years ago.

Where did a Hungarosaurus live?

The fossils of the Hungarosaurus were found at the Csehbánya Formation situated at the Bakony Mountains which is in the upper Cretaceous of Hungary. Hence, it's assumed that these dinosaurs used to live in Western Hungary.

What was a Hungarosaurus' habitat?

The general climate during the Cretaceous period was quite warm. This created many shallow inland oceans. However, when the Upper Cretaceous period arrived and the Cenozoic era was approaching along with it, the climate started cooling down and drying a little. Additionally, research has been done on the fossils of the Hungarosaurus and the scientists have figured out that they probably used to live in a low-lying floodplain of the upper Cretaceous of Hungary where the soil was rich and fertile which caused an abundance of low growing vegetation. This was probably their most suitable habitat.

Who did a Hungarosaurus live with?

The four fossils of the Hungarosaurus were all found from the Csehbánya Formation. They were found quite close to each other, rather than being far apart. It certainly indicates that they used to live in a group.

How long did a Hungarosaurus live?

Due to a lack of data, the exact lifespan of this Hungarian dinosaur is not known. However, it's assumed that the lifespan of some Ankylosaurs, like the Ankylosaurus, was about 70-80 years on average. We can assume a somewhat similar lifespan of the Hungarosaurus as well.

How did they reproduce?

Around 450 bones consisting of some full or complete and some partial fossils of parts of the Hungarosaurus have been found. However, the fact is that they still lived about 86.3 million years ago. Hence, even though a lot of research has been done on the gathered remains, the scientists have not been able to conclude much about their reproduction. The only thing we have come to know is that the Hungarosaurus were oviparous in nature. Oviparous animals like amphibians, reptiles, fish, or birds lay eggs. Then, after incubating the eggs for a certain period of time, the eggs hatch, and the young ones are born. It's assumed that the Hungarosaurus gave birth to their juveniles by laying eggs as well.

What did a Hungarosaurus look like?

The Hungarosaurus tormai was a long and armored dinosaur. They had bony plates or scutes of different sizes all over their body that probably formed together and covered the flanks and the back of the dinosaur. They had a skull length of about 14.2-15.7 in (36-40 cm) on average. They had around 80 teeth that were leaf-shaped on their jaws. They had two body features that were especially distinguishable from other ankylosaurs. The first is that they lacked the bony club which other ankylosaurs have at the end of their tail. The other one is that they had comparatively longer forelimbs and hindlimbs and they were quadruped.

How many bones did a Hungarosaurus have?

The exact number of bones the Hungarosaurus had is not known. Till now, four fossils of the dinosaur have been found and from these remains, a total of 450 bones that are some full or complete, and some parts have been found. Some of these remains are portions of their skull, more than a hundred osteoderms or scutes, right scapula, five chevrons, thirteen dorsal and three cervical ribs, ten caudal vertebrae, six dorsal vertebrae, three cervical vertebrae, partial right mandible, portions of their right manus, fragments of their ossified tendon, and their left scapulocoracoid. They also had a total of 80 teeth on their jaws.

How did they communicate?

Dinosaurs in general used to communicate with each other through sight, sound, and body language. They probably fought amongst themselves when defending their territory or during the breeding season. It's believed that Hungarosaurus stayed in a group, so they probably had sounds or some form of signal to alert each other when danger was approaching.

How big was a Hungarosaurus?

An adult Hungarosaurus size was about 13.1-14.8 ft (4-4.5 m) in length. They were slightly shorter than Ankylosaurus, the largest known ankylosaur. An adult Ankylosaurus was about 19.7-26.2 ft (6-8 m) in length.

How fast could a Hungarosaurus move?

The exact speed at which these dinosaurs could move is not known. However, ankylosaurs, in general, had short limbs and long bodies which resulted in slow-moving ability. They probably could not run and their moving speed was less than about 6.2 mph (10 kph). It's important to mention that, unlike most ankylosaurs, Hungarosaurus had slightly longer limbs, so even though they were quadruped, their speed was probably above the average speed of other ankylosaurs.

How much did a Hungarosaurus weigh?

An adult Hungarosaurus weighed about 1433 lb (650 kg) on average.

What were the male and female names of the species?

Males and females of the species had no specific names.

What would you call a baby Hungarosaurus?

A baby Hungarosaurus was called a juvenile.

What did they eat?

Hungarosaurus were herbivorous dinosaurs, so they used to feed on plant matter, like leaves, seeds, or twigs. Hungarosaurus was short in terms of height, so it probably used to feed on low-growing vegetation. Their habitat dictates this feeding habit of the dinosaurs as well.

How aggressive were they?

It's not known whether Hungarosaurus was aggressive or not. It can be assumed that they might have become aggressive when they were defending themselves against some form of threat.

Did you know...

All the four specimens of the Hungarosaurus dinosaurs have been found at an open-pit mine, specifically a bauxite mine near the Iharkút village of Veszprém County which is situated at the Transdanubian Range of the Bakony Mountains.

Hungarosaurus were more primitive than some dinosaurs of North America. These North American nodosaurid dinosaurs were Pawpawsaurus, Sauropelta, and Silvisaurus.

What fossils have been found from the Hungarosaurus?

About 450 fragments of Hungarosaurus bones have been discovered to date. Some fossils were intact, while some were incomplete. More than a hundred scutes have been found. Along with them, cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, cervical and dorsal ribs, parts of pelvis, scapula, manus, and more have been found. Many fragments of their skull have also been found. These fossil parts of the skull are one hyoid, right quadrate, a fragment of their left quadrate, pterygoid, quadratojugal, jugal, left lacrimal, premaxilla, basioccipital, vomer, left frontal, right postorbital, and left prefrontal. The Hungarosaurus were slightly more advanced than another European nodosaurid, Struthiosaurus which was evident in these fossils.

What does the name 'Hungarosaurus' mean?

The name 'Hungarosaurus' is made up of the location they were found, 'Hungary' and the Greek word 'sauras' which means 'lizard'. Hence, the name means 'Hungarian lizard'. Their scientific name is 'Hungarosaurus tormai'. The 'tormai' is given in honour of the paleontologist who discovered this dinosaur species, András Torma.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these chasmosaurus interesting facts, or diabloceratops facts for kids.

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

Main image by Elekes Andor

Second image by Elekes Andor