kids encyclopedia robot

Scutellosaurus facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Scutellosaurus
Scutellosaurus.jpg
Scutellosaurus lawleri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Class:
Superorder:
Order:
Suborder:
Genus:
Scutellosaurus

Colbert, 1981
Scutellosaurus lawleri
Based on discovered skeletal material
Scutellosaurus1
Scutellosaurus

Scutellosaurus was a small bipedal herbivorous dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic period, 200–196 million years ago. It was about a metre long.

Its back was armoured, and it is placed in the Thyreophora with the other armoured dinosaurs. It was one of the earliest members of this group, and the most basal (primitive) form so far known. Its closest relatives may have been Emausaurus and Scelidosaurus. These, and the larger armoured dinosaurs Ankylosaurus, Stegosaurus and Huayangosaurus, were all quadrupedal. The lightly built bipedal Scutellosaurus is similar in form to the ancestral dinosaurs, which were bipedal.

Description

Scutellosaurus was around 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) long, 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 a counterbalance to the weight of the armoured body, and long arms that suggest it may have browsed on all fours.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Scutellosaurus lawleri para niños

kids search engine
Scutellosaurus Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.