Scutellosaurus

Say it like this: “skoo-TEL-oh-SOR-uhs”

Scutellosaurus lawleri

Scutellosaurus ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Jurassic. Bones have been found in the United States.

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When: Early Jurassic (Sinemurian · Pliensbachian) · roughly 199.5 to 184.2 million years ago
Named in: 1981 · Colbert, E. H.
Hip height: 0.3 m · 1 ft
Length: 1.3 m · 4 ft
Weight: 3 kg · 7 lb
Found in: the United States · Kayenta
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two legs
Kind: bird-hipped dinosaur · Ornithischian
Family branch: Thyreophora

The story in short

In 1981, E. H. Colbert published the name Scutellosaurus. The name means “little shield lizard.”

Fossils referred to Scutellosaurus date to the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian · Pliensbachian), roughly 199.5 to 184.2 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Kayenta Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Scutellosaurus at a length near 1.3 m, hips about 0.3 m high, and a body mass around 3 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