The Gigantosaurus megalonyx is a sauropod dinosaur that belongs to the Sauropoda genus. It was discovered to be living during the Kimmeridgian period of the Jurassic, which was about 145-164 million years ago, but this is not just an assumption made by researchers. The fossils of this species were discovered from the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation of England. The fossils found of this dinosaur were partial remains that had a cervical vertebra, a dorsal vertebra, two tail vertebrae, a part of the fibula and tibia, part of the bony skin, and two large claws.The name of this dinosaur translates to the giant lizard. The name of this dinosaur species was given by Harry Govier Seeley in the year 1869 after he discovered the fossil. It is often confused with the dinosaur Giganotosaurus, which is a meat-eating predator and one of the largest dinosaurs of the time. The term Giganotosaurus means giant southern lizard.Very little is known about the sauropod Gigantosaurus as there have been very few fossil excavations for this species. Currently, it is a dubious genus of sauropod dinosaurs as the fossils that are assigned to the genus could come from a sauropod, but they were all found separately and in fragments, which raised the suspicion that they could be from more than one species. Because of this, paleontologists have had notions that the Gigantosaurus might be a type genera of another dinosaur.Scroll down to read about the Gigantosaur’s life, what they fed on, their habits, and other exciting details! If you want to discover more like the Gigantosaur, take a look at the Xiaotingia and Leptorhynchos.
Fun Gigantosaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivore
Average litter size? N/A
How much did they weigh? N/A
How long were they? N/A
How tall were they? N/A
What did they look like? N/A
Skin Type Osteoderm skin
What were their main threats? Natural disasters and large predators
Where were they found? Dense forests and woodlands
Locations England
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Gigantosaurus
Class Reptilia
Family Otozoidae
Scientific Name Gigantosaurus megalonyx
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 3
Gigantosaurus Interesting FactsHow do you pronounce ‘Gigantosaurus’?The name of the dinosaur is pronounced as Gy-gant-o-sore-us.What type of dinosaur was a Gigantosaurus?The Gigantosaurus megalonyx is a sauropod dinosaur that belongs to the Sauropoda genus. It belonged to the Kimmeridgian period. The name of this dinosaur translates to the giant lizard. It is often confused with the dinosaur Giganotosaurus, which is a meat-eating predator and one of the largest dinosaurs of the time.In which geological period did the Gigantosaurus roam the earth?This dinosaur lived during the Kimmeridgian period, which is an age in the Late Jurassic epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic series, which was about 164-145 million years ago. These flat head dinosaurs who had a brain went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period.When did the Gigantosaurus become extinct?Dinosaurs, in general, went extinct almost 65 million years ago, that is, at the end of the Cretaceous period, after living on the earth for about 165 million years. But this species lived during the Kimmeridgian period, which is an age in the Late Jurassic epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic series, which was about 145-164 million years ago.Where did a Gigantosaurus live?This dinosaur species was a plant-eater and therefore chose areas that were dense in vegetation and had terrestrial land regions. Their long tail enabled them to swish through dense vegetation, which means they stayed in a cool and temperate environment with lots of plants.What was a Gigantosaurus’ habitat?Even though present-day geographical locations of the world are quite different, during the time of the dinosaurs, the world was different. The fossils of this species were excavated from the Late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay Formation of England, and it can be assumed they inhabited the present-day areas of England.Who did a Gigantosaurus live with?Fossil evidence points out from both the bone bed and trackways that the stegosaurian genus were gregarious animals who lived and moved in pairs or herds. Mostly all herbivorous dinosaurs stayed in herds to protect themselves from predators.How long did a Gigantosaurus live?There is no information on the life span of these species, and after the evacuation of more specimen materials relevant to this are found, can this be speculated or proved.How did they reproduce?Sauropods, much like other reptiles, mated with each other during the breeding season, and in the case of this breed, the female dinosaur laid eggs. The eggs hatched after a certain period of time, and newborn dinosaurs come out. The adult dinosaurs took care of the newborns till they could move with their parents or go along with their new family.Gigantosaurus Fun FactsWhat did a Gigantosaurus look like?There isn’t a proper idea of how this species looked due to the lack of fossils and research on them. The only fossils that were found were a cervical vertebra, a dorsal vertebra, two tail vertebrae, a part of the fibula and tibia, part of the bony skin, and two large claws. From this, researchers could speculate that the dinosaur was a herbivore and that it might have been huge.Like any other sauropod dinosaur, it might have had a small and flat head forholding the brain and a long neck. The body of the dinosaur was short compared to its neck and tail, which were big in size. It had short legs, and the right size can’t be estimated, but the front and back legs might have been of the same height as the dinosaur was quadrupedal.How many bones did a Gigantosaurus have?As of now, there has been no excavation of the Gigantosaurus skeleton that can state how many bones the dinosaur had in total. Only after the proper discovery of the fossils can this be stated.How did they communicate?There is no specific mention of how they communicated as it is quite difficult to find, but they definitely didn’t have modern means of communication. Like any other animal, these dinosaurs with a brain also communicated by making sounds and using their body language. They might have included hoots and hollers to communicate as well.How big was a Gigantosaurus?Sadly, the Gigantosaurus size, height and length has not been stated by the researchers for these dinosaurs as of yet. Only after proper fossils are found can they state the details of these dinosaurs.How fast could a Gigantosaurus move?There is no information that is stated by researchers for these dinosaurs as of yet. Only after proper fossils are found can they state the details of the movement speed of these dinosaurs. The only thing that can be assumed is being one of the largest sauropods, they had short legs but could move faster than smaller sauropods like the Kentrosaurus.How much did a Gigantosaurus weigh?Sadly, there is no weight that is stated by researchers for these dinosaurs as of yet. Only after proper fossils are found can they state the weight of these dinosaurs.What were the male and female names of the species?There is no specific name for the male or female dinosaur gigantosaurus and they are commonly known as Gigantosaurus or Ginatosaurus megalonyx.What would you call a baby Gigantosaurus?The newborn dinosaur was known as hatchling or nestling. This was common for most dinosaur species.What did they eat?The Gigantosaurus diet consisted of plants and trees mostly. They might have also fed on fruits and berries found in the forests of present-day England.How aggressive were they?This is also a piece of information that is unknown as of now, but if assumed, like other sauropods, then they were quite friendly and weren’t aggressive at all. They stayed together in harmony with each other.Did you know…As the Gigantosaurus dinosaur is seen as a dubious species, other paleontologists have considered it to be a synonym of other genera. Richard Lydekker suggested it to be Ornithopsis, and Von Huene proposed it to be a synonym of Pelorosaurus. The species is considered to be a Nomen dubium, and the remains are thought to be of titanosaurs or of a closely related species.There is a French-Canadian show based on this dinosaur and the cast has done a commendable job.How many teeth did a Gigantosaurus have?There is no information on this as of yet. Only after proper excavation can this be found by researchers.Gigantosaurus vs. T RexThe Gigantosaurus was a sauropod herbivorous dinosaur, while the T Rex was a meat-eating dinosaur. The T Rex had no similarity with the Gigantosaurus whatsoever, except they might have been similar in being the largest dinosaurs, but the height of the Gigantosaurus is still not found.More than often, the Gigantosaurus is mistaken with Giganotosaurus, which is a meat-eating dinosaur. The Giganotosaurus is a more famous species while the former is still being researched, and very little information has been put out due to lack of material. The Trex was much more similar to the Giganotosaurus as both were meat-eating dinosaurs and were the largest dinosaurs of their times.Moreover, the TRex was discovered to be living during the late cretaceous period, while the Gigantosaurus was from the Kimmeridgian period, which is an age in the Late Jurassic epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic series. Similarly, the Giganotosaurus was discovered to be living during the early Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Harpactognathus facts or Tupuxuara facts for kids.You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable dinosaur color by numbers coloring pages.Second image by Franciscus27.
How do you pronounce ‘Gigantosaurus’?
The name of the dinosaur is pronounced as Gy-gant-o-sore-us.
Fun Gigantosaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivore
Average litter size? N/A
How much did they weigh? N/A
How long were they? N/A
How tall were they? N/A
What did they look like? N/A
Skin Type Osteoderm skin
What were their main threats? Natural disasters and large predators
Where were they found? Dense forests and woodlands
Locations England
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Gigantosaurus
Class Reptilia
Family Otozoidae
Scientific Name Gigantosaurus megalonyx
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 3
Fun Gigantosaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivore
Average litter size? N/A
How much did they weigh? N/A
How long were they? N/A
How tall were they? N/A
What did they look like? N/A
Skin Type Osteoderm skin
What were their main threats? Natural disasters and large predators
Where were they found? Dense forests and woodlands
Locations England
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Gigantosaurus
Class Reptilia
Family Otozoidae
Scientific Name Gigantosaurus megalonyx
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 3
Fun Gigantosaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivore
Average litter size? N/A
How much did they weigh? N/A
How long were they? N/A
How tall were they? N/A
What did they look like? N/A
Skin Type Osteoderm skin
What were their main threats? Natural disasters and large predators
Where were they found? Dense forests and woodlands
Locations England
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Gigantosaurus
Class Reptilia
Family Otozoidae
Scientific Name Gigantosaurus megalonyx
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 3
Fun Gigantosaurus Facts For Kids
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivore
Average litter size? N/A
How much did they weigh? N/A
How long were they? N/A
How tall were they? N/A
What did they look like? N/A
Skin Type Osteoderm skin
What were their main threats? Natural disasters and large predators
Where were they found? Dense forests and woodlands
Locations England
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Gigantosaurus
Class Reptilia
Family Otozoidae
Scientific Name Gigantosaurus megalonyx
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 3
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivore
Average litter size? N/A
How much did they weigh? N/A
How long were they? N/A
How tall were they? N/A
What did they look like? N/A
Skin Type Osteoderm skin
What were their main threats? Natural disasters and large predators
Where were they found? Dense forests and woodlands
Locations England
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Gigantosaurus
Class Reptilia
Family Otozoidae
Scientific Name Gigantosaurus megalonyx
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 3
What did they prey on? N/A
What did they eat? Herbivore
Average litter size? N/A
How much did they weigh? N/A
How long were they? N/A
How tall were they? N/A
What did they look like? N/A
Skin Type Osteoderm skin
What were their main threats? Natural disasters and large predators
What did they prey on?
N/A
What did they eat?
Herbivore
Average litter size?
How much did they weigh?
How long were they?
How tall were they?
What did they look like?
Skin Type
Osteoderm skin
What were their main threats?
Natural disasters and large predators
Where were they found? Dense forests and woodlands
Locations England
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Gigantosaurus
Class Reptilia
Family Otozoidae
Scientific Name Gigantosaurus megalonyx
How scary were they? 3
How loud were they? 3
How intelligent were they? 3
Where were they found?
Dense forests and woodlands
Locations
England
Kingdom Animalia
Genus Gigantosaurus
Kingdom
Animalia
Genus
Gigantosaurus
Class Reptilia
Family Otozoidae
