Episode 160 is all about Scutellosaurus, an armored dinosaur whose name means “little shielded lizard.”

Big thanks to all our patrons! Because of you I Know Dino exists! For all the dinosaur enthusiasts out there, check out our Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/iknowdino

You can listen to our free podcast, with all our episodes, on iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i-know-dino/id960976813?mt=2

In this episode, we discuss:

News:

The dinosaur of the day: Scutellosaurus

Thyreophoran ornithischian that lived in the Jurassic in what is now Arizona, in the U.S. Armored dinosaur, whose closest relatives were probably Emausaurus and Scelidosaurus Name means “little shielded lizard” Only one species: Scutellosaurus lawleri Species name is in honor of David Lawler, who found the fossil Lawler, a grad student at University of California, Berkeley at the time, found the holotype at the West Moenkopi Plateau locality in the Silty Facies Member of the Kayenta Formation, in Coconino County, Arizona (part of Navajo Nation), in 1971 Described by Edwin Colbert in 1981, based on the fossils Lawler found that were collected in 1977, and a second specimen James Clark found six more specimens in 1983 Colbert originally thought it was related to Lesothosaurus, a basal ornithischian, and placed Scutellosaurus in the family Fabrosauridae, but the scutes and other features eventually put it in Thyreophora One of the earliest armored dinosaurs, and the most basal one found so far Too basal to be considered an ankylosaur or stegosaur Had over 300 osteoderms on its neck, back, and tail, that formed parallel rows (up to five rows on each side) Scutes were too small for species recognition, they were embedded like in crocodiles and not really visible Scutes could have been used for defense Potential predators at the time were Megapnosaurus and Dilophosaurus Herbivore, had leaf-shaped cheek teeth Small, lightly-built Could grow up to 3.9 ft (1.2 m) long, and weighed 22 lb (10 kg) Probably bipedal, though may have walked on all fours when eating Had a long tail, probably for balance



Fun Fact:

Teresa Maryańska (Polish Paleontologist) named two ankylosaurs in 1977: Tarchia AKA the “brainy one” and Saichania AKA the “beautiful one”

Sponsor:

This episode is brought to you in part by TRX Dinosaurs, which makes beautiful and realistic dinosaur sculptures, puppets, and exhibits. You can see some amazing examples and works in progress on Instagram @trxdinosaurs