Name:

Yaverlandia ("from Yaverland"); pronounced yah-ver-LAN-dee-ah

Habitat:

Woodlands of western Europe

Historical Period:

Early Cretaceous (125 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 3 feet long and 10-20 pounds

Diet:

Meat

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Small size; bipedal posture

 

About Yaverlandia:

It's not often that a carnivorous dinosaur is mistaken for a herbivorous dinosaur, or vice-versa (though it is very common for dinosaurs within either of those categories to be classified incorrectly).

Yaverlandia is one of the few ancient reptiles that was once thought to have been a herbivorous dinosaur (specifically, a pachycephalosaur, or "bone-headed dinosaur") and was later found to be a carnivorous dinosaur (a type of small, feathered theropod known as a "maniraptoran.") Beyond its feeding habits, though, the early Cretaceous Yaverlandia remains a mysterious creature, a situation that can only be resolved by further fossil discoveries.