Maiasaura Peeblesorum : First Dinosaur in Space : Discovery Channel

Maiasaura Peeblesorum: The First Dinosaur in Space

By Kiersten Aschauer, HowStuffWorks

Space-travelling dinosaurs may seem like science fiction, but one dinosaur actually made it into space in 1985. Astronaut Loren Acton packed bone fragments from a historic Montana dig before boarding Spacelab 2, making Maiasaura the first dinosaur to orbit the earth.

That might have given some paleontologists reason to grin, but what probably excites them more is taking a look back 65-80 million years before the Maiasaura's trip to the stars, when this duckbilled plant eater lived among the likes of Tyrannosaurs and Velociraptors.

Cheeky Dinos

The duck-billed Maisaura were big dinosaurs and big eaters. These herbivores had fiber-rich diets that consisted of berries, seeds and up to 20 pounds of leaves a day. However, oddly enough, its sharp, enameled teeth lined its cheeks rather than its beak.

Weighing in at about 8,000 pounds, the Maisaura were part of the Hadrosauridae family, growing to be about 30 feet long and 8 feet tall. It could navigate on either two or four legs, but perhaps had a bit of an uneven stance, as it had stubby arms with four-fingered hands and hooved back legs that were much stronger than its front. Its strong tail was presumed to be used as a balancing device. The small crest between its eyes smoothed backward to reveal a flat skull.

Movers, Shakers, Herders and Travelers

The Maisaura specimens found to date have all come from the Late Cretaceous period’s Two Medicine Formation in western Montana. Maisaura's closest relative may have been Brachylophosaurus from southern Alberta and Montana. Because fossils have been discovered in groups totaling up to 10,000, Maisaura are alleged to be herders who needed to travel seasonally in search of food, and then returned annually to breed in their home colonies.

Model Moms

There is a reason the Maisaura have been nicknamed the "good mother lizard." Scientists repeatedly found fossils alongside nests that contained up to 25 grapefruit-sized eggs. It is believed that the Maisaura moms nurtured the hatchlings until they at least doubled in size — longer than many other dinosaurs stayed with their young.

Dino Fast Facts

  Dinosaur Name: Maiasaura peeblesorum

  Order, Suborder, Family: Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Hadrosauridae

  Name Means: "good mother lizard," because it nurtured its young longer than most dinosaurs

  Time: Late Cretaceous, 80-65 million years ago

  Location: Montana

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