NAME

Meaning - Nqwebasaurus means “Nqweba lizard” - named for the district in which it was found
Pronounced - en-KWEB-ah-SAWR-us {Note: the Q is pronounced as a click}
Named By - de Klerk, Forster, Sampson, Chinsamy, and Ross
When Named - 2000
DIET

Carnivore (meat-eater) - it may have eaten small mammals, reptiles and insects.
SIZE

Length - 2.5 ft (80 cm) long
Height - 13 ft (33 cm) tall at the hips
Weight - 1.3 pounds (580 gm)
WHEN IT LIVED

Early Cretaceous period, about 135-130 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found in the Kirkwood Formation in the Algoa Basin, Eastern Cape, South Africa. This specimen has been nicknamed “Kirky.”
FOSSILS

What Has Been Found - A 70 percent complete fossil was found.
Who Found the Fossils - Nqwebasaurus was found by William de Klerk and Callum Ross.
CLASSIFICATION
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Saurischia - lizard-hipped dinosaurs
  • Suborder Theropoda - bipedal carnivores
  • Tetanura - advanced theropods
  • Infraorder Coelurosauria - lightly-built fast-running predators with hollow bones and large brains
  • Genus Nqwebasaurus
  • Species N. thwazi (type species named by de Klerk et al., 2000)
INTERESTING FACTS

This chicken-sized dinosaur was found containing gizzard stones (stones it swallowed to help grind up its food).
LINKS

A page on when Nqwebasaurus was found.