Polacanthus facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Polacanthus Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
Armour of Polacanthus foxii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Ornithischia
Suborder:	Thyreophora
Infraorder:	Ankylosauria
Family:	Ankylosauridae
Subfamily:	Polacanthinae
Genus:	Polacanthus Owen vide Anonymous, 1865

Hypothetical P. foxii restoration, based mostly on Gastonia

Polacanthus was an armoured, spiked, plant-eating dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous, about 132 to 100 million years ago. Polacanthus means "many spines."

Some paleontologists think that Polacanthus is the same genus as Hylaeosaurus. Fossils of this ankylosaurid have been found in England.

Description

Polacanthus was about 12 feet (4 m) long and about 4.8 feet (1.5 m) tall. It was a bulky quadruped that relied on its many rows of bony spikes for protection. No head is known for this genus.

Images for kids

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  Estimated size based on the holotype.

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  Type specimen of Polacanthus foxii

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  Tibia, vertebra and scutes

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  Comparative illustration of the pelvis of Polacanthus foxii.

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  Historical P. foxii skeletal restoration by Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás

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  Fossils figured in Hulke, 1881

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  Material at NHM, London

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  Tail, centrum, and scute fragments

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  Vertebra and scute

See also

In Spanish: Polacanthus foxii para niños