Atlascopcosaurus (Atlas Copco Lizard)

Basic facts

  • 9 feet (2.7m) length

  • Early Cretaceous

  • Australia

  • Herbivore

Atlascopcosaurus is a genus of dinosaur belonging to the family Hypsilophodontidae. It lived approximately 125 to 115 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous, in what is now Australia. The first fossils of Atlascopcosaurus were discovered in the 1980s in Victoria, Australia, providing paleontologists with valuable insights into this small ornithopod dinosaur.

It was named after the company that provided the drilling equipment for the dinosaur digging at Cove digs, Victoria in the late 1980s.

Atlascopcosaurus was a relatively small dinosaur, estimated to have reached lengths of around 1 to 2 meters. It possessed a bipedal stance, with long hind limbs and shorter forelimbs. While specific details regarding its cranial features and dentition are limited, it is believed to have had a slender build and a beak-like mouth adapted for feeding on vegetation.