Scutellosaurus
| Scutellosaurus Temporal range: Early Jurassic,
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| Scutellosaurus lawleri | |
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| Genus: | Scutellosaurus Colbert, 1981
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Scutellosaurus (meaning "little-shielded lizard") is a genus of herbivorous dinosaur that lived in North America around 200 to 196 million years ago, in the Early Jurassic times.
It is classified in Thyreophora, the armoured dinosaurs; its closest relative may have been Scelidosaurus, another armored dinosaur which was mainly a quadrupedal dinosaur, unlike bipedal Scutellosaurus. It was one of the earliest representatives of the armored dinosaurs.
Description
Scutellosaurus was around 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) long[1], 50 centimetres (20 in) tall at the hips, and weighed 10 kilograms (22 lb). The fossil evidence includes two partial skeletons recovered from Arizona, although of the skull only the lower jaw has been recovered. There were also several hundred scutes running along its neck to its back and as far down as its tail. Some of these shields were flat, while others were pitted. It had an unusually long tail, possibly to provide a counterbalance against the weight of the armored body, and long arms that suggest it may have browsed on all fours.[1]
References
- ^ a b Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. pp. 134–135. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- The Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia, D. Dixon, 1998 (ISBN 0-7064-3238-X)
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