Question 1

How do you say Attenborosaurus?

Accepted Answer

You say it like this: at-en-BOR-oh-SOR-us. Break it into five chunks: AT, then EN, then BOR, then OH, then SOR-us. The stress falls on the BOR syllable in the middle. A good trick is to say David Attenborough's last name first, then just add SOR-us on the end, since that is literally where the name comes from.

Question 2

What does Attenborosaurus mean?

Accepted Answer

It means 'Attenborough's lizard.' The name was created in 1993 by paleontologist Robert Bakker to honor Sir David Attenborough, the famous British nature documentary maker. The ending 'saurus' comes from the Ancient Greek word for lizard and is used in the names of almost all prehistoric reptiles. The species name conybeari adds a second tribute, this time to William Conybeare, the 19th-century geologist who first studied the fossil.

Question 3

Was Attenborosaurus a dinosaur?

Accepted Answer

No, Attenborosaurus was not a dinosaur at all. It was a pliosaurid, a type of marine reptile that lived in the sea during the Early Jurassic period. Dinosaurs lived on land, while pliosaurids like Attenborosaurus were fully adapted to ocean life, using four large paddle-like flippers to swim. They were more closely related to plesiosaurs than to any dinosaur.

Question 4

How big was Attenborosaurus?

Accepted Answer

Attenborosaurus was roughly 18 to 20 feet long, about the size of a large pickup truck, and probably weighed around 800 kilograms, heavier than a dairy cow. It had a large skull with sharp conical teeth and four powerful flippers. While it was not the biggest pliosaurid ever, in its Early Jurassic ecosystem it was one of the apex predators of the ocean.

Question 5

What did Attenborosaurus eat?

Accepted Answer

Attenborosaurus was a carnivore. Based on its sharp conical teeth, powerful jaws, and streamlined body, scientists think it hunted fish, squid-like cephalopods such as belemnites and ammonites, and possibly smaller marine reptiles. Its short neck and large skull meant it could lunge forward rapidly to catch fast-moving prey. Related pliosaurids show similar tooth shapes adapted for gripping slippery ocean prey.

Question 6

Where did Attenborosaurus live?

Accepted Answer

Attenborosaurus lived in the shallow warm seas that covered what is now Dorset in southern England approximately 193 million years ago. The fossils were found in the Lower Lias rock formation near Charmouth, a site on the famous Jurassic Coast, a stretch of English coastline now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its extraordinary fossil record.

Question 7

Is the Attenborosaurus fossil destroyed?

Accepted Answer

The original Attenborosaurus fossil was severely damaged during World War II. In 1944, Allied bombing raids hit the Stuttgart State Museum of Natural History in Germany, where the specimen was being stored, and large parts of the fossil were destroyed. Scientists today rely on historical illustrations, written descriptions, and casts made before the bombing to study the animal. It is one of the saddest losses in the history of paleontology.

Question 8

Did David Attenborough know a dinosaur was named after him?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Sir David Attenborough was very much aware that this prehistoric creature was named in his honor, and he reportedly appreciated the tribute greatly. Paleontologist Robert Bakker named it Attenborosaurus in 1993 specifically to celebrate Attenborough's lifelong work making natural history exciting for everyone. Attenborosaurus is not technically a dinosaur but a marine reptile, though that makes it no less of an honor since pliosaurids were among the ocean's most fearsome predators.

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