Euoplocephalus

[Barry the Baryonyx]

Euoplocephalus

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The Euoplocephalus is most easily compared to its relative, the Ankylosaurus, that lived during the same time. Both exhibited a small, top-covered body and sides with thick, oval-shaped plates that were actually fused onto the skin underneath. The Euoplocephalus also had several spike-like protrusions on its head and just below its neck as well as smaller protrusions down its back. Its long tail had a thick bony club at the end that it could use to swing at predators, delivering a heavy blow to even the largest animals. Its only weak spot was the underbelly and if a Euoplocephalus was turned over, it almost certainly meant death.

The Euoplocephalus moved around on four legs, the hind legs being longer than the front. Its skull had only a pair of unique "cheek teeth" which aided in chewing harder plants and sticks. The rest of its "beak," meanwhile, was toothless. The dinosaur's brain was tiny and offered little intelligence, and swinging its tail may even have been an involuntary reaction to the stimuli of being attacked.