Hoplitosaurus

Say it like this: “ho-PLIET-o-SAWR-us”

Hoplitosaurus marshi

Hoplitosaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.

Quiz me on Hoplitosaurus

When: Early Cretaceous (Berriasian · Valanginian) · roughly 143.1 to 132.6 million years ago
Named in: 1902 · Lucas, F. A.
Hip height: 1.2 m · 4 ft
Length: 4.5 m · 15 ft
Weight: 1.5 tonnes
Found in: the United States · Lakota
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
Family branch: Nodosauridae

The story in short

In 1902, F. A. Lucas published the name Hoplitosaurus. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Hoplitosaurus date to the Early Cretaceous (Berriasian · Valanginian), roughly 143.1 to 132.6 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Lakota Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Hoplitosaurus at a length near 4.5 m, hips about 1.2 m high, and a body mass around 1.5 tonnes.

On the family tree it sits in Nodosauridae, among the armored dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Acantholipan

Acantholipan gonzalezi

Late Cretaceous (Santonian) · roughly 85.7 to 83.6 million years ago

Animantarx

Animantarx ramaljonesi

Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) · roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago

Anoplosaurus

Anoplosaurus curtonotus

Early Cretaceous (Albian) · roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago