Genus
Valid Extinct

Scelidosaurus

Owen 1859
Etymology Reptile à (gros) membres

Scelidosaurus is a genus of herbivorous armoured ornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic of England.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
13
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Scelidosaurus
click to enlarge
In 2000 a virtually complete Scelidosaurus skeleton was discovered in England. This fossil's hundreds of armor plates and spikes are preserved in their life positions, providing extraordinary details about how this dinosaur looked. St. George is the only place anywhere in the Western Hemisphere that the 11-foot long Scelidosaurus replica has been on display. The St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm (St. George, Utah) is home to exceptionally well-preserved dinosaur tracks, some displaying skin impressions. These tracks, along with hundreds of fossil fish, plants, rare dinosaur remains, invertebrates traces and important sedimentary structures, show evidence that this site was produced along the western edge of a large, Early Jurassic (age between 195-198 million years ago) freshwater lake named Lake Dixie. Source: www.sgcity.org/dinotrax/ © 5of7 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Parapredentata Unranked clade
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Saphornithischia Unranked clade
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Prionodontia Unranked clade
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Genasauria Unranked clade
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Thyreophora Unranked clade
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Thyreophoroidea Superfamily
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Scelidosauridae Family
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Scelidosaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
4 m ⓘ
Fossil sites 13 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
12
🇨🇳 China
1
Geological formations
Charmouth Mudstone
10
Waterloo Mudstone
1
Temporal distribution
Pliensbachian (192.9–184.2 Ma)
2
Sinemurian (199.5–192.9 Ma)
10
Hettangian (201.4–199.5 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Scelidosaurus harrisonii 200 Ma
Bibliography
Original description
R. Owen. 1859. Palaeontology. The Encyclopaedia Brittanica, or Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature (8th Edition) 17:91-176
Bibliography (7)
M. J. Simms, R. S. H. Smyth, and D. M. Martill, P. C. Collins, R. Byrne. 2021. First dinosaur remains from Ireland. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 132:771-779 DOI ↗
D. B. Norman. 2020. Scelidosaurus harrisonii from the Early Jurassic of Dorset, England: cranial anatomy. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 188(1):1-81 DOI ↗
D. Naish and D. M. Martill. 2007. Dinosaurs of Great Britain and the role of the Geological Society of London in their discovery: basal Dinosauria and Saurischia. Journal of the Geological Society, London 164:493-510 DOI ↗
D. M. Martill, D. K. Loydell, and D. J. Batten. 1997. A thyreophoran dinosaur with organically preserved skin and dermal ossifications from the ?Lower Jurassic of England. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17(3, suppl.):62A
P. Ensom. 1987. Scelidosaur remains from the Lower Lias of Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 108:203-205
X. Zhao. 1985. [The Jurassic Reptilia]. [The Jurassic System of China. Stratigraphy of China, No. 11]
J. B. Delair. 1960. The Mesozoic reptiles of Dorset. Part two. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 80:52-90