Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
539 / Mesozoic
Scelidosaurus
Scelidosaurus harrisonii
Rows of armor from neck to tail mark an early split among armored dinosaurs.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 196–183 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Jurassic
- Geographic range
- Coastal plain and estuary · Britain
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Scelidosaurus?
Scelidosaurus (Scelidosaurus harrisonii) was an extinct organism known from About 196–183 million years ago, with a range in Coastal plain and estuary · Britain.
Life and ecology
It walked on four legs and cropped ferns and gymnosperm shoots.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Scelidosaurus disappear?
Stegosaurs and ankylosaurs later became more specialized, but a younger fauna does not by itself show that they replaced this early form.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Scelidosaurus?
Several skeletons and skulls preserve armor in place and make its reconstruction unusually secure.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS