Fun Oxalaia Facts For Kids

Oxalaia was a large theropod dinosaur of the family Spinosauridae that was in existence in the late cretaceous period of the early Cenomanian stage - 98 MYA.

The continental mass which they used to inhabit is now called Brazil, South America. Most of the fossils recovered of this dinosaur were from the Laje do Coringa area in the Alcantara Formation, from the São Luís Basin; part of the Itapecuru Group in the year 2004.

Many bone fragments have been found, and apart from that many teeth fossils have also been found.

The name to this genus was given by Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner,‭ ‬Sergio A.K.‭ ‬Azevedeo,‭ ‬Elaine B.‭ ‬Machado,‭ ‬Luciana B.‭ ‬Carvalho‭ & ‬Deise D.R.‭ ‬Henriques‭ ‬in the year 2011 and the type species is Oxalaia quilombensis. The name Oxalaia was derived from an African deity Oxala, that was introduced in Brazil in the period of the grave slave trade.

The name 'quilombensis' refers to the settlement of quilombo similar to that on Cajual Island.

For more such fascinating facts, keep reading. Here are some more interesting facts about other dinosaurs like the Lurdusaurus and Olorotitan.

Oxalaia Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Oxalaia'?

The pronunciation of this Brazilian dinosaur is 'ox-ah-lie-ah'. They are closely related to Spinosaurs and Angaturama.

What type of dinosaur was an Oxalaia?

Oxalaia was a very large theropod. The eighth officially named and discovered theropod is the Oxalaia quilombensis from the country Brazil and also it is the largest carnivorous dinosaur discovered yet from the same country. They are very closely related to the Spinosaurs which is an African genus.

In which geological period did the Oxalaia roam the Earth?

The Oxalaia used to live in the late cretaceous period of the early Cenomanian stage - 98 MYA, which was somewhere between 100.5 and 93.9 million years ago. The name 'quilombensis' refers to the settlement of quilombo similar to that on Cajual Island.

When did the Oxalaia become extinct?

They were very large dinosaurs and had gone extinct around 90 million years ago. It is believed that Oxalaia was a subspecies of Spinosaurs, but right now it's only an assumption and very highly unlikely because of the geographical constraints.

Where did an Oxalaia live?

These large theropods were the dinosaurs of dry and humid habitats and their fossils were found in Brazil, South America. They are closely related to Spinosaurs and Angaturama.

What was an Oxalaia's habitat?

The period during which this dinosaur existed was the Late Cretaceous period and is often been called a humid climate of tropical forests where there are many horsetails, conifers, and ferns. These areas were surrounded by arid and semi-arid regions where there were periodical heavy rainfalls followed by more dry periods.

Who did an Oxalaia live with?

The information on their social behavior is quite very little. The way dinosaurs form groups to hunt animals down, the dinosaurs were themselves very powerful that they didn't need to form groups to overpower anybody.

How long did an Oxalaia live?

Oxalaia was a large theropod predatory dinosaur and lived during the Upper Cretaceous about 100-93 million years ago. They are known from only two bones of their skull that got discovered in the year 1999.

How did they reproduce?

There is no information available on the reproducing methods of this South American animal. They were egg-laying dinosaurs.

Oxalaia Fun Facts

What did an Oxalaia look like?

The Oxalaia of the family Spinosauridae were about 39.37-45.93 ft (12-14 m), 4.5-5 ft ( 1.37-1.52 m) wide, and 4.1 ft (1.24 m) in tall. According to the fossil found of these dinosaurs, the skull might be 4.42 ft (1.35 m) long which is smaller than the Spinosaurus's skull.

Oxalaia is the largest known theropod from Brazil, and then comes Pycnonemosaurus which is second in the row. Their nostrils were a distinguishing feature from Spinosaurids.

How many bones did an Oxalaia have?

One of the Oxalaia dinosaur facts that will leave you stunned is that this Oxalaia skeleton was known only from 'two bones' of their skull, discovered in the year 1999. It was named by the group of Brazilian paleontologists of Brazil in the year 2011.

How did they communicate?

There is almost no information available on the communication ways of this dinosaur. In general, dinosaurs used to communicate both verbally and by displaying some signs to show their dominance and strength to others.

How big was an Oxalaia?

This dinosaur (Oxalaia quilombensis) was a very huge theropod, even if we compare it to modern-day large animals like elephants. Like most of the theropods, they were merely 39.37-45.93 ft (12-14 m) in length.

How fast could an Oxalaia move?

The exact speed with which this theropod dinosaur, Oxalaia, moved is not known as of yet because of very limited fossil study. Their very close species Spinosaurus with which they have almost the same classification used to attain a speed up to 21 mph (33.7 kph).

How much did an Oxalaia weigh?

This dinosaur (Oxalaia quilombensis) was very big, even if we compare it to giant animals today, they will be bigger. The Oxalaia size or weight was around 5.51-7.71 tons (5000-7000 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

There are no specific names for the male and the female of this dinosaur species of Europe Oxalaia (Oxalaia quilombensis).

What would you call a baby Oxalaia?

The baby of this herbivore dinosaur species (Oxalaia quilombensis) does not have any particular name to be called by. They were called baby Oxalaia. Their name was given Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner,‭ ‬Sergio A.K.‭ ‬Azevedeo,‭ ‬Elaine B.‭ ‬Machado,‭ ‬Luciana B.‭ ‬Carvalho‭ & ‬Deise D.R.‭ ‬Henriques‭ ‬in the year 2011.

What did they eat?

These giant theropods were partly carnivorous and partly piscivorous. The fish-eating lifestyle which they had was very similar to crocodiles today. They used to eat small animals and dinosaurs like pterosaurs.

How aggressive were they?

This animal was very clever in these cases as they use to seize territories and prey from small dinosaurs by scaring them by using their big size. Else they were not much aggressive. They used to become aggressive in detecting corpses.

Did you know...

The fact that surprises people about this dinosaur is that until now the knowledge on Oxalaia is so incomplete because of its incomplete skeletons. Their fossil is the same as that of a Spinosaurus but the clarity about its tail is still not there.

It is very tough to understand whether these dinosaurs had tails or not. The sites from where the fossils were found are the places where the external natural factors dominate and ay destroy the bones.

When was the Oxalaia found?

This animal was a Brazilian dinosaur from South America. Many fossils have been dug out from the Laje do Coringa area in the Alcantara Formation, from the São Luís Basin; part of the Itapecuru Group in the year 2004.

Some scientists of Brazil gave this dinosaur its name, they were Alexander Wilhelm Armin Kellner,‭ ‬Sergio A.K.‭ ‬Azevedeo,‭ ‬Elaine B.‭ ‬Machado,‭ ‬Luciana B.‭ ‬Carvalho‭ & ‬Deise D.R.‭ ‬Henriques‭ ‬in the year 2011.

Oxalaia vs. Spinosaurus

Oxalaia (Oxalaia quilombensis) and Spinosaur (Spinosaurus aegyptiacus) have almost all the classification necessary. They are considered as almost the same but have few significant differences as well apart from being from totally different geographical locations and their related body features.

Spinosaurus had more widely spaced teeth and a much sharper snout than the Oxalaia. Spinosaur was a bipedal dinosaur with short legs.

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 Sauropelta facts pages and Mononykus facts pages.

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

Second image is an illustration by PaleoGeekSquared.