Scutellosaurus
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Scutellosaurus Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 196 Ma |
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| Scutellosaurus lawleri | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Thyreophora |
| Genus: |
†Scutellosaurus Colbert, 1981 |
| Species: | †S. lawleri |
| Binomial name | |
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Scutellosaurus lawleri Colbert, 1981 |
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Scutellosaurus (pron.:"skoo-TELL-oh-SORE-us") is an extinct genus of thyreophoran ornithischian dinosaur that lived approximately 196 million years ago during the early part of the Jurassic Period in what is now Arizona, USA. It is classified in Thyreophora, the armoured dinosaurs; its closest relatives may have been Emausaurus and Scelidosaurus, another armored dinosaur which was mainly a quadrupedal dinosaur, unlike bipedal Scutellosaurus. It is one of the earliest representatives of the armored dinosaurs and the basalmost form discovered to date.Scutellosaurus was a small, lighly-built, ground-dwelling, herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated 1.2 m (3.9 ft) long.
The genus name Scutellosaurus means "little-shielded lizard", and is derived from the Latin word "scutellum" meaning "little shield", and the Greek word "sauros" (σαύρα) meaning "lizard". The type and only valid species known today is Scutellosaurus lawleri. The specific name honors David Lawler who collected the fossil.
Scutellosaurus was lightly built, and was probably capable of walking on its hind legs. It had an unusually long tail, possibly to provide a counterbalance against the weight of the armored body. It 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 several partial skeletons recovered from Arizona by the Museum of Northern Arizona and the University of California Museum of Paleontology, although the skull is poorly known from these specimens. There were several hundred osteoderms running along its neck to its back and as far down as its tail. These formed parallel rows, with as many as five rows on each side. It also had double rows of osteoderms, or external plates, running neck to tail. Some of these shields were flat, while others were pitted.
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