Genus
Valid Extinct

Leaellynasaura

Rich and Vickers-Rich 1989
Etymology Leaellyn

Leaellynasaura is a genus of small herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs from the late Aptian to early Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous, around 118-110 million years ago. It was first discovered in Dinosaur Cove, Australia. The only known species is Leaellynasaura amicagraphica. It was described in 1989, and named after Leaellyn Rich, the daughter of the Australian palaeontologist couple Tom Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich who discovered it. The specific name, amicagraphica, translates to "friend writing" and honours both the Friends of the Museum of Victoria and the National Geographic Society for their support of Australian paleontology.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
4
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Leaellynasaura
click to enlarge
Leaellynasaura amicagraphica, dinosaur, skull. Holotype. [P 185991] © Photographer: Benjamin Healley Source: Museums Victoria · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Neornithischia Unranked clade
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Pyrodontia Unranked clade
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Cerapoda Unranked clade
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Ornithopoda Suborder
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Iguanodontia Infraorder
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Euiguanodontia Unranked clade
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Elasmaria Unranked clade
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Leaellynasaura Genus
Measurements
Length
2 m ⓘ
Fossil sites 4 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇦🇺 Australia
4
Geological formations
Temporal distribution
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
4
Species (1)
Leaellynasaura amicagraphica 113 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
T. H. Rich and P. Vickers-Rich. 1989. Polar dinosaurs and biotas of the Early Cretaceous of southeastern Australia. National Geographic Research 5(1):15–53
Bibliography (2)
R. J. Duncan, A. R. Evans, and P. Vickers-Rich, T. H. Rich, S. F. Poropat. 2021. Ornithopod jaws from the Lower Cretaceous Eumeralla Formation, Victoria, Australia, and their implications for polar neornithischian dinosaur diversity. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 41(3):e1946551:1-25 DOI ↗
T. H. Rich and P. Vickers-Rich. 1989. Polar dinosaurs and biotas of the Early Cretaceous of southeastern Australia. National Geographic Research 5(1):15–53