Former Champion

©Mariana Ruiz

Once the shortest name in the business, Minmi paravertebra, has been replaced by dinosaurs with three letter names. Still, the short name is fairly unique. As is often the case with fossil animals, Minmi was named after the location from which it was taken; Minmi Crossing in Australia. Minmi was a somewhat small Ankylosaur, reaching about 9.8ft (3m) in length. It is also one of the more well known Australian dinosaurs. An initial nearly complete find in 1964 and a number of subsequent discoveries, including a second nearly complete skeleton, make the available material for study of Minmi some of the best in the world for any dinosaur. Minmi is a case in which quality certainly has won out over the quantity of some other finds, but an herbivore of this size, even if a loner and not a herder, probably has left other individuals fossilized in the Australian soil; it is just a matter of finding them.

When conducting your own searches for Minmi be sure to add the term "dinosaur" to your search or you may end up listening to Japanese pop music.