Albertadromeus was an ornithopod that was a member of the family Parksosauridae. It was first discovered in 2009 by Dr. David Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum.
Key Facts
| Domain | Description |
|---|---|
| Albertadromeus pronunciation | Al-ber-tah-droe-mee-us |
| What does Albertadromeus mean? | Alberta is a province in Canada and is derived from the Greek word ‘dromeus’, meaning runner. While its species name ‘syntarsus’ was from the Greek words ‘syn’ which means ‘together’ and ‘tarsus’ meaning ‘ankle’ |
| Dinosaur type | Ornithopod |
| On the menu | Herbivore |
| Length | 5 feet |
| Height | 1.9 feet |
| Weight | 30 lbs |
| Life expectancy | Unknown |
| Legs used to get around | Bipedal |
| Estimated top speed | Unknown |
| When they lived | 83.6 to 72.1 million years ago |
| Where they have been found? | Alberta, Canada. Albertadromeus settled on coastal areas as well as ground dwellers which lived in burrows, meaning low-lying lands of grasses along the sea coast. |
When & Where
Existed from the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period, which is approximately 83.6 million to 72.1 million years ago.
In 2009 Dr. David Evans, of the Royal Ontario Museum, collaborated with Dr. Michael Ryan from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History for their investigation of the evolution of dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous period of North America and discovered the remains. It was described and named in 2013 by Michael Ryan, Caleb Marshall Brown, Anthony P. Russel and David C. Evans, Curators of Dinosaur Systematics and Evolution.
Size & Weight
It measures about 5ft long and a height of 1.9 ft. and weighed approximately 30 lbs which was the same weight as a young-adult Albatross chick.
Mobility & Diet
Their main diet was focused on different plant materials such as small plants, grasses and other vegetation smaller than 1 meter.
Interesting Points
- Known and considered to be the smallest herbivorous dinosaur.
- Its lower leg bones like the fibula and tibia had fused distal ends.
- It is assumed that this ornithopod was a petite dinosaur and the tiniest herbivore to have ever existed.
- The lower leg bones of its fossil remains were found to be fused together.
- Albertadromeus is believed to have been extinct around 77 million to 76 million years ago.
Featured Image Credit: Levi bernardo, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
