Lurdusaurus was hippo, not sloth?

Adam Khor

Read recently about this- Lurdusaurus, the African iguanodont that coexisted with Suchomimus (if Im not mistaken), has been always described as a ground-sloth-like animal, yet now it seems that it was probably a semiaquatic creature, with a low-to-the-ground body and short thick legs, like a hippo... but with a very long neck almost like a sauropod!



This would make it a nice addition to the list of dinosaurs that are not happy being what they are and try hard to be something else, which already includes:

Miragaia, a stegosaur that wants to be a sauropod too;

Brachytrachelopan, a sauropod that wants to be an ornithopod:

and Ampelosaurus, a sauropod that wants to be a nodosaur



to say nothing of Dracorex who dreams of spitting fire...

Galvasean

Don't forget Quetzalcoatlus, which wants to be that which terrorizes my dreams!

Adam Khor

Oh noes!! Run little champsosaur-thing, run!!!:(

Galvasean

For those interested, plenty of info on Lurdusaurus here:
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2011/06/lurdusaurus_stupidest_iguanodontian.php