Lexovisaurus
Encyclopedia
Lexovisaurus was one of the first dinosaur
s from mid-to-Late Jurassic
Europe
, 164.7 mya to be discovered. It was a stegosaur. Its fossils (pieces of armor and limb bones) have been found in France
and northern England
.
The French specimens show that Lexovisaurus was probably rather like Stegosaurus. Traditionally, this dinosaur was depicted as having either large spines over the hips or shoulders, with a selection of flat plates and round pointed spines that ran along the back and tail. Lexovisaurus was probably about 5 m (16.5 ft) long. The type specimen, Lexovisaurus durobrivensis, was formalized by Hoffstetter in 1957. The specimen was originally placed in Omosaurus (now Dacentrurus
) 70 years earlier. Recent work by Susannah Maidment and colleagues indicates that Lexovisaurus is based on undiagnostic remains, so these workers coined Loricatosaurus
to hold other remains that had been assigned to Lexovisaurus.
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s from mid-to-Late Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, 164.7 mya to be discovered. It was a stegosaur. Its fossils (pieces of armor and limb bones) have been found in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and northern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The French specimens show that Lexovisaurus was probably rather like Stegosaurus. Traditionally, this dinosaur was depicted as having either large spines over the hips or shoulders, with a selection of flat plates and round pointed spines that ran along the back and tail. Lexovisaurus was probably about 5 m (16.5 ft) long. The type specimen, Lexovisaurus durobrivensis, was formalized by Hoffstetter in 1957. The specimen was originally placed in Omosaurus (now Dacentrurus
Dacentrurus
Dacentrurus , originally known as Omosaurus, was a large stegosaur of the Late Jurassic Period .-Description:...
) 70 years earlier. Recent work by Susannah Maidment and colleagues indicates that Lexovisaurus is based on undiagnostic remains, so these workers coined Loricatosaurus
Loricatosaurus
Loricatosaurus is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from Callovian-age rocks of England and France...
to hold other remains that had been assigned to Lexovisaurus.