All Topics  
Nodosaurus

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Nodosaurus
 
 
  Topics Nodosaurus Topic Home

Nodosaurus ("knobbed lizard") was a herbivorous
Herbivore

Herbivory is a form of predation in which an organism, known as an herbivore, heterotrophs principally autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria....
 dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
 from the Late Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
, the fossils of which are found in North America. Two incomplete specimens have been discovered in Wyoming
Wyoming

The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
 and Kansas
Kansas

The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
, and no skulls. One of the first armored dinosaurs to be discovered in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Nodosaurus was named by Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh

Othniel Charles Marsh was one of the pre-eminent paleontologists of the 19th century, who discovered and named many fossils found in the American West....
 in 1889. This nodosaurid ankylosaur was about long. It was an ornithischian dinosaur with bony dermal plates covering the top of its body, and it may have had spikes along its side as well.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Nodosaurus'
Start a new discussion about 'Nodosaurus'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Nodosaurus ("knobbed lizard") was a herbivorous
Herbivore

Herbivory is a form of predation in which an organism, known as an herbivore, heterotrophs principally autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria....
 dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
 from the Late Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
, the fossils of which are found in North America. Two incomplete specimens have been discovered in Wyoming
Wyoming

The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
 and Kansas
Kansas

The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
, and no skulls. One of the first armored dinosaurs to be discovered in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
, Nodosaurus was named by Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh

Othniel Charles Marsh was one of the pre-eminent paleontologists of the 19th century, who discovered and named many fossils found in the American West....
 in 1889. This nodosaurid ankylosaur was about long. It was an ornithischian dinosaur with bony dermal plates covering the top of its body, and it may have had spikes along its side as well. The dermal plates were arranged in bands along its body, with narrow bands over the ribs alternating with wider plates in between. These wider plates were covered in regularly arranged bony nodules, which give the animal its scientific name.

It had four short legs, five-toed feet, a short neck, and a long, stiff, clubless tail. The head was narrow, with a pointed snout, powerful jaws, and small teeth. It perhaps ate soft plants, as it would have been unable to chew tough, fibrous ones; or alternatively it may have processed the latter with gastrolith
Gastrolith

Gastroliths are Rock , which are or have been held inside the Gastrointestinal tract of an animal. Among living vertebrates, gastroliths are common among Herbivore birds, crocodiles, alligators, seals and Sea Lion....
s and its enormous intestinal apparatus.

It is thought that without a club on its tail, Nodosaurus would have been left without much in terms of active defenses. When threatened, it probably dropped to the ground so that only its armored back and sides were exposed, much like modern-day hedgehogs.

Various nodosaur scutes found in the Eastern US have a good chance of being identified as, and probably are, scutes of the genus Nodosaurus.

External links

  • at Dino Russ's Lair