Scutellosaurus Temporal range: Early Jurassic,
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Reconstructed skeleton in Japan | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | †Ornithischia |
Clade: | †Thyreophora |
Genus: | †Scutellosaurus Colbert, 1981 |
Species: | †S. lawleri
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Binomial name | |
†Scutellosaurus lawleri Colbert, 1981
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Scutellosaurus (/skuːˌtɛloʊˈsɔːrəs/ skoo-TEL-oh-SOR-əs) is a genus of basal 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.[1] Scutellosaurus was a small, lightly-built, ground-dwelling herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) long.