Muttaburrasaurus langdoni lived around 96 million years earlier near the ancient inland Eromanga Sea, in what is now Australia.

The holotype specimen was found in 1963 near the main western Queensland area of Muttaburra by regional grazier Doug Langdon.

It is amongst the most skeletally total ornithopod dinosaurs from the supercontinent Gondwana and is the fossil symbol of the state of Queensland.

In brand-new research study, University of New England paleontologist Matthew Herne and his associates analyzed various parts of the Muttaburrasaurus langdoni‘s skull from a brand-new specimen.

“Our discovery re-defines a number of presumptions made about the bumpy-nosed types, which is the fossil symbol of Queensland,” Dr. Herne stated.

“The very first impressive discovery was that Muttaburrasaurus langdoni had teeth at the idea of its snout.”

“This was unforeseen, due to the fact that the beak (front part of the snout) of Muttaburrasaurus langdoni was believed to be toothless like lots of other widely known plant-eating types such as Iguanodon from Europe and the ‘duck-billed’ hadrosaurs, mainly discovered in the northern hemisphere.”

“But ornithischian dinosaurs of this size generally have beak-like snouts without teeth, with a fine example of this being Triceratops“

“Therefore, the beak of this Australian dinosaur wasn’t toothless and more than likely a pickier eater.”

With its narrow toothy beak, Muttaburrasaurus langdoni would have browed for specific leaves and seeds and potentially even invertebrates for range in their diet plan.

This likewise suggests that Muttaburrasaurus langdoni progressed from an earlier spin-off of the ornithopod dinosaurs from Camptosaurus and Iguanodonwhen the earlier kinds of the small-bodied ornithischians all had actually toothed beaks.

This brand-new finding can assist location Muttaburrasaurus langdoni more properly on the dinosaur tree of life.

“The findings were made by drawing out the brain imprint on the skull and the inner ears,” stated Flinders University’s Professor Vera Weisbecker.

“We understood that its inner ear was more like dinosaurs that strolled on 2 legs, like Tyrannosaurus rexthan others that invested more time on all fours.”

“So it’s possible that Muttaburrasaurus langdoni was a big herbivore walking and working on its hind legs when required and utilized its front arms for assistance to crop food closer to the ground.”

The scientists likewise discovered that the particular ’round’ shape of Muttaburrasaurus langdoni‘s nose is consisted of completely brand-new bones that are not discovered in other dinosaurs.

“Finding the brand-new bones was amazing since they exposed 2 big complicated air chambers above the primary breathed in air flow which would have decreased air as it inhaled,” Dr. Herne stated.

“So we believe that they suggest a really intense sense of odor, possibly to assist the animal discover food, identify predators or help in directional navigation.”

“This function of the nose likewise matches their large olfactory bulbs– amongst the biggest of any dinosaur– which are the parts of the brain where odor is processed.”

“The usage of innovative CT scanning, neutron scattering and synchrotron innovations supplied comprehensive 3D digital designs of the jaws and teeth,” included Dr. Joseph Bevitt, a scientist at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO).

The research study was released online in the journal PeerJ

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M.C. Herne et al2026. Cranial anatomy, palaeoneurology, palaeobiology and stratigraphic age of the large-bodied ornithopod, Muttaburrasaurus langdoni Bartholomai and Molnar, 1981, from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia. PeerJ 14: e20794; doi: 10.7717/ peerj.20794