Microhadrosaurus

small hadrosaur lizard

• mikros · Greek · small
• hadros · Greek · bulky / stout
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek "mikros" (small) with "Hadrosaurus," the classic duck-billed dinosaur genus whose name means "bulky lizard." It was chosen to reflect the apparently small body size of the animal compared with other hadrosaurs. The fossils are from a juvenile or small individual, which prompted the "micro-" prefix.

Named by

Dong

Year named

1979

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Nanxiong Formation, Guangdong Province, China

Microhadrosaurus nanshiungensis was named by Dong Zhiming in 1979 from fragmentary jaw material from the Nanxiong Formation of China. Because the holotype is extremely fragmentary and likely represents a juvenile individual, the genus is widely regarded as a nomen dubium — the material is insufficient to confidently distinguish it from other hadrosaurids. It is a hadrosaurid (duck-billed dinosaur) of the ornithopod clade.