Troll_Man

WWD: Muttaburrasaurus sp.

Added 2023-07-06 20:09:43 +0000 UTC

The largest animal in the episode, since Australian titanosaurs were not yet known at the time of the episode's production (or technically at this point in the Cretaceous). This is the only major character in the episode that is not actually known from Dinosaur Cove, it's known from the more northern Allaru and Mackunda Formations. The episode gives the explanation that it migrates south during the summer to take advantage of the endless plant growth, which is speculative but plausible.

The episode depicted Muttaburrasaurus as a more or less straightforward Iguanodon clone, only really differing by its big nose, but in reality it was rather different. It's probable that unlike the facultatively bipedal Iguanodon, Muttaburrasaurus was a more primitive ornithopod that was incapable of quadruped movement and did not have the thumb spike which is seen in the episode. Using its big nasal structure as a resonating device is also speculative, but it is plausible enough (I mean, it had to have used it for something...).

Also note the lack of exact species designation, because it pertains to a currently undescribed species of Muttaburrasaurus known from the Allaru Mudstone in New South Wales that is older than the more well-known M. langdoni, which is only uncovered in overlying strata of the Late Albian and would have lived too late to take part in this episode.