Malawisaurus

Malawi lizard

• Malawi · Chichewa/English (place name) · the country of Malawi, where the fossils were found
• sauros · Greek · lizard

Malawisaurus means "Malawi lizard". It is named after the country of Malawi in southeastern Africa, where its fossils were discovered. It is a titanosaurian sauropod, and it is one of the earliest known titanosaurs to be found with skull material.

Named by

Jacobs et al.

Year named

1993

Period

Early Cretaceous

Found in

Dinosaur Beds, Karonga District, Malawi

A titanosaurian sauropod. The type species is Malawisaurus dixeyi, originally described by Haughton in 1928 as Gigantosaurus dixeyi and later moved to its own genus. Its skeleton is notable for preserving osteoderms (bony armor) in association with the bones.