Post by Barry the Baryonyx on Jun 29, 2007 14:06:38 GMT -5
Polacanthus
Pic © 2005 By Russell J. Jacobson
Polacanthus, deriving its name from the Ancient Greek poly-/ "many" and acantha/ "thorn" or "prickle", was an early armored, spiked, plant-eating ankylosaur from the early Cretaceous period. It lived 132 to 112 million years ago in what is now western Europe.
Description
Polacanthus grew to between 4 and 5 meters long. It was a quadrupedal ornithischian or "bird-hipped" dinosaur. There are not many fossil remains of this creature, and some important anatomical features, such as its skull, are poorly known. Polacanthus had a large sacral shield, a single fused sheet of dermal bone over its hips (sacral area) which was not attached to the underlying bone and decorated with tubercles. This feature is shared with other Polacanthine dinosaurs such as Gastonia and Mymoorapelta.
Discovery and species
The genus Polacanthus comprises two species from Europe, with a possible third from the Lower Cretaceous of North America. However, this latter species has been placed by some into a separate genus and is alternately known as Hoplitosaurus marshi.
Pic © 2005 By Russell J. Jacobson
Polacanthus, deriving its name from the Ancient Greek poly-/ "many" and acantha/ "thorn" or "prickle", was an early armored, spiked, plant-eating ankylosaur from the early Cretaceous period. It lived 132 to 112 million years ago in what is now western Europe.
Description
Polacanthus grew to between 4 and 5 meters long. It was a quadrupedal ornithischian or "bird-hipped" dinosaur. There are not many fossil remains of this creature, and some important anatomical features, such as its skull, are poorly known. Polacanthus had a large sacral shield, a single fused sheet of dermal bone over its hips (sacral area) which was not attached to the underlying bone and decorated with tubercles. This feature is shared with other Polacanthine dinosaurs such as Gastonia and Mymoorapelta.
Discovery and species
The genus Polacanthus comprises two species from Europe, with a possible third from the Lower Cretaceous of North America. However, this latter species has been placed by some into a separate genus and is alternately known as Hoplitosaurus marshi.
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