Emiliasaura alessandrii Emiliasaura

"Emilia"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Emiliasaura 5 m (16.4 ft) long
3 people holding hands
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (145–100 Mya)
Place
South America · Argentina
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Dinosauria

Emiliasaura (meaning “Emilia’s lizard”) is an extinct genus of iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) Mulichinco Formation of Neuquén Province, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Emiliasaura alessandrii, known from three individual specimens. Emiliasaura was initially described as a rhabdodontomorph. If this identification is correct, it would represent the oldest member of this clade and the first named from South America. However, a later analysis of rhabdodontomorphs failed to recover Emiliasaura within this clade, instead placing it as a styracosternan.

What we know

  • Named by Coria et al., 2025.
  • Fossils found in South America and Argentina.