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plated dinosaur
Alcovasaurus
Say it like this: “al-KOH-vuh-SAWR-us”
Alcovasaurus longispinus
Alcovasaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Jurassic. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
- Named in
- 2016 · Galton, P. M.; Carpenter, K.
- Hip height
- 1.7 m · 6 ft
- Length
- 6.5 m · 21 ft
- Weight
- 3.5–5 tonnes
- Found in
- the United States · Morrison
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- plated dinosaur · Stegosaur
- Family branch
- Stegosauridae
The story in short
In 2016, P. M. Galton and K. Carpenter published the name Alcovasaurus. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
It lived in the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian), roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Morrison Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Alcovasaurus at a length near 6.5 m, hips about 1.7 m high, and a body mass around 3.5–5 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Stegosauridae, among the plated dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Kentrosaurus
Kentrosaurus aethiopicus
Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago
Paranthodon
Paranthodon africanus
Early Cretaceous (Berriasian · Valanginian) · roughly 143.1 to 132.6 million years ago
Tuojiangosaurus
Tuojiangosaurus multispinus
Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Bajocian–Oxfordian) · roughly 170.9 to 154.8 million years ago