Scelidosaurus

Say it like this: “SKEL-i-do-SAWR-us”

Scelidosaurus harrisonii

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

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When: Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) · roughly 199.5 to 192.9 million years ago
Named in: 1859 · Owen, R.
Hip height: 0.8 m · 3 ft
Length: 3.8–4 m · 12–13 ft
Weight: 270 kg · 595 lb
Found in: the United Kingdom · Charmouth Mudstone
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: bird-hipped dinosaur · Ornithischian
Family branch: Thyreophora

The story in short

The genus Scelidosaurus dates to 1859, the year R. Owen described it.

Fossils referred to Scelidosaurus date to the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian), roughly 199.5 to 192.9 million years ago. Finds come from the United Kingdom, including the Charmouth Mudstone Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Scelidosaurus at a length near 3.8–4 m, hips about 0.8 m high, and a body mass around 270 kg.

On the family tree it sits in Thyreophora, among the bird-hipped dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Bienosaurus

Bienosaurus lufengensis

Early Jurassic (Hettangian · Sinemurian) · roughly 201.4 to 192.9 million years ago

Emausaurus

Emausaurus ernsti

Early Jurassic (Toarcian) · roughly 184.2 to 174.7 million years ago

Jakapil

Jakapil kaniukura

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