Name

Glacialisaurus (Greek for "frozen lizard"); pronounced GLAY-shee-AH-lah-SORE-us

Habitat

Plains of Antarctica

Historical Period

Early Jurassic (190 million years ago)

Size and Weight

About 20 feet long and one ton

Diet

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics

Slender build; long neck; bipedal posture

 

About Glacialisaurus

Only a handful of dinosaurs have been discovered in Antarctica, not because this was an inhospitable place to live during the Mesozoic Era (it was actually rather mild and temperate) but because conditions today make excavation so difficult.


What makes Glacialisaurus important is that it's the first prosauropod, or "sauropodomorph," to be identified on this frozen continent, which has given paleontologists valuable insight into the evolutionary relationships of these distant sauropod ancestors. Specifically, Glacialisaurus seems to have been most closely related to the Asian Lufengosaurus, and coexisted with the fearsome predator Cryolophosaurus (which may occasionally have had it for lunch).