New Zealand dinosaurs

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Although the evidence is rare, fossils reveal that there were dinosaurs in New Zealand. Possibly because it lacks the right conditions for fossilisation, only fragments of bone and a few vertebrae have been found there.

Because these fossils are only a single bone or a piece of a bone, we cannot identify the dinosaur's species, but by comparing the fossils with others we can see which family or order it belonged to.

So far, there have been fossils found in New Zealand that have been identified as coming from:

• Carnosaurs (large, bipedal carnivores such as Allosaurus)
• Sauropods (large, long-necked herbivores such as Diplodocus)
• Ankylosaurs (armoured herbivores such as Ankylosaurus)
• Hypsilophodons (small, bipedal herbivores such as Hypsilophodon)

Fossils of other animals from the dinosaur era have also been found in New Zealand. These include:

• Pterosaurs (flying reptiles)
• Ichthyosaurs (marine reptiles resembling dolphins)
• Plesiosaurs (large, long-necked marine reptiles)
• Mosasaurs (large marine reptiles resembling crocodiles)

Marine fossils are more common than fossils of land animals in New Zealand because dead animals and plants are easily preserved in sand and mud. Therefore, some fossils of large marine reptiles are nearly complete, and so can be recognised as a species.

The New Zealand mosasaur has been named Rikisaurus, and was one of the largest mosasaurs in the world. The New Zealand plesiosaur has been named Mauisaurus.