Loricatosaurus

Say it like this: “LOH-ree-KAH-toe-SOR-us”

Loricatosaurus priscus

Loricatosaurus ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Middle Jurassic. Bones have been found in the United Kingdom.

Quiz me on Loricatosaurus

When: Middle Jurassic (Callovian) · roughly 165.3 to 161.5 million years ago
Named in: 2008 · Maidment, S. C. R.; Norman, D. B.; Barrett, P. M.; Upchurch, P.
Hip height: 1.7 m · 6 ft
Length: 6 m · 20 ft
Weight: 1.4 tonnes
Found in: the United Kingdom · Oxford Clay
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: plated dinosaur · Stegosaur
Family branch: Stegosaurinae

The story in short

Loricatosaurus was formally named in 2008 by S. C. R. Maidment and colleagues. The name means “armored lizard.”

Fossils referred to Loricatosaurus date to the Middle Jurassic (Callovian), roughly 165.3 to 161.5 million years ago. Finds come from the United Kingdom, including the Oxford Clay Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Loricatosaurus at a length near 6 m, hips about 1.7 m high, and a body mass around 1.4 tonnes.

On the family tree it sits in Stegosaurinae, among the plated dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Hesperosaurus

Hesperosaurus mjosi

Late Jurassic · Early Cretaceous (Oxfordian–Berriasian) · roughly 161.5 to 137.1 million years ago

Jiangjunosaurus

Jiangjunosaurus junggarensis

Middle Jurassic · Late Jurassic (Callovian · Oxfordian) · roughly 165.3 to 154.8 million years ago

Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus stenops

Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian · Tithonian) · roughly 154.8 to 143.1 million years ago