ZoomDinosaurs.com ALL ABOUT DINOSAURS!

ANATOMY
Ouranosaurus was a sail-backed, plant-eating, iguanodontid dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period. It was about 24 feet (7 m) long and may have weighed about 4 tons.

Ouranosaurus' sail was formed by long-spined vertebrae in the backbone. The spines stuck out from its back and tail; the spines were covered with skin. The sail was probably used for temperature regulation in the hot, African environment. It would help the animal cool down in the heat of day, by dispersing extra heat when the sail was turned away from the sun. It would also help Ouranosaurus collect heat early in the morning when the sail faced the sun. The sail may also have been used for mating displays, intraspecies rivalry, or to make it look larger when confronting predators. Ouranosaurus had few defenses.

Ouranosaurus' skull was longer than other iguanodontid skulls. It had a bit of a crest on its snout, two bony bumps. Ouranosaurus had a flat, wide, toothless beak, and many cheek teeth for grinding plant material. The neck was short and flexible. There were five short fingers on each hand. The second and third fingers had hoof-like nails that Ouranosaurus probably used when it went on all four limbs to graze low-lying plants. Each thumb had a small conical spike like Iguanodon.

WHEN OURANOSAURUS LIVED
Ouranosaurus lived in the early Cretaceous period, about 115-110 million years ago. Spinosaurus, a large, sail-backed meat-eater, was one of its contemporaries in the hot, Cretaceous environment of north Africa.

INTELLIGENCE
Ouranosaurus was an ornithopod, whose intelligence (as measured by its relative brain to body weight, or EQ) was midway among the dinosaurs.

DIET
Ouranosaurus was an herbivore, a plant eater. It probably ate leaves, fruit, seeds, and other plant material with its tough beak. It had no teeth in its beak, but had many cheek teeth that it used for grinding up tough plant material.

LOCOMOTION
Ouranosaurus could run on two legs or walk on four; it was a relatively slow, bulky dinosaur. Dinosaur speeds are estimated using their morphology (characteristics like leg length and estimated body mass) and fossilized trackways.

DISCOVERY OF FOSSILS
Two almost complete Ouranosaurus fossils were found in the southern Sahara Desert, in northeast Niger, Africa, in 1966. Ouranosaurus was named by the French paleontologist Phillippe Taquet in 1976.

OURANOSAURUS ACTIVITIES

• Ouranosaurus information printout with a labeled drawing.
• Print out a K-3 level Ouranosaurus information page to color!

CLASSIFICATION
Ouranosaurus belonged to the:

• Kingdom Animalia (animals)
• Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
• Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
• Order Ornithischia - bird-hipped, herbivorous dinosaurs
• Suborder Ornithopoda - bird-footed, beaked, bipedal, herbivorous dinosaurs
• Family Iguanodontidae - the family of large, bipedal, long-toed herbivores with thumb spikes, that included Iguanodon, Ouranosaurus Probactrosaurus, and others.
• Genus Ouranosaurus
• species: nigeriensis, the type species (Taquet, 1976).

Other iguanodontids include Iguanodon, Camptosaurus, Muttaburrasaurus, and Probactrosaurus.

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Information Sheets About Dinosaurs (and Other Prehistoric Creatures)

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Acanthopholis Acrocanthosaurus Albertosaurus Allosaurus Amargasaurus Ammonite* Anatotitan Ankylosaurus Apatosaurus Archaeopteryx* Archelon* Avimimus Baryonyx Brachiosaurus Brontosaurus Camarasaurus Camptosaurus Carcharodontosaurus Caudipteryx Ceratosaurus Chasmosaurus Coelophysis Compsognathus Corythosaurus Deinonychus Dilophosaurus Diplodocus Dimetrodon* Dimorphodon* Dryosaurus Dsungaripterus* Edmontosaurus Elasmosaurus* Eoraptor Eryops* Euoplocephalus Gallimimus Gargoyleosaurus Giganotosaurus Heterodontosaurus

Homalocephale Hypacrosaurus Hylaeosaurus Hypsilophodon Ichthyosaurs* Iguanodon Janenschia Kentrosaurus Kronosaurus* Lambeosaurus Lesothosaurus Maiasaura Majungatholus Mamenchisaurus Massospondylus Megalosaurus Megaraptor Microvenator Minmi Monoclonius Montanoceratops Mosasaurs* Mussaurus Nothosaurs* Notoceratops Ornitholestes Ornithomimus Othnielia Ouranosaurus Oviraptor Pachycephalosaurus Pachyrhinosaurus Parasaurolophus Pentaceratops Plateosaurus Plesiosaurs* Protarchaeopteryx Protoceratops Protohadros

Psittacosaurus Pteranodon* Pterodactyloids* Pterodactylus* Pterosaurs* Quaesitosaurus Quetzalcoatlus* Rhamphorhynchus* Riojasaurus Saltopus Saurolophus Sauropelta Scelidosaurus Scipionyx Seismosaurus Sinornithosaurus Sinosauropteryx Spinosaurus Stegoceras Stegosaurus Styracosaurus Suchomimus Supersaurus Syntarsus Thecodontosaurus Torvosaurus Triceratops Trilobite* Tröodon Tyrannosaurus rex Ultrasauros Unenlagia Utahraptor Variraptor Velociraptor Vulcanodon Wannanosaurus Xiaosaurus Yangchuanosaurus Zigongosaurus

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