Thyreophora
Thyreophora are the armoured dinosaurs: the name means 'shield-bearer'. It is a suborder of ornithischian dinosaurs.
They are divided into these groups:
- Various early herbivores which could be quadrupedal or bipedal.[1] Examples: the lightly armoured: Scutellosaurus, and Scelidosaurus.
- Ankylosauria
- Ankylosaurids: armoured from their head to their club-ended tail.
- Nodosaurids: no tail club but spikes and bony bumps on body.
- Stegosauria
- Huayangosaurids: an early group from Middle Jurassic of China.
- Stegosaurids: small heads and vertical plates and spines on body and tail. Upper Jurassic, Lower Cretaceous.
Thyreophora Media
Lesothosaurus diagnosticus mirrored
Emausaurus is a basal member of the thyreophora, the group of dinosaurs that include the ankylosaurs and stegosaurs. Like its derived kin, Emausaurus was protected by an armor of osteoderms that covered its back and the length of its tail. Typical of basal thyreophorans, Emausaurus was relatively small, reaching an estimated 4 m in total body length.
Scutellosaurus illustration by Ritterbush
Scelidosaurus is a basal thyreophoran from what is now England and Ireland. At approximately 4 m in body length, Scelidosaurus was quadrupedal, but may have been facultatively bipedal, allowing it to rear up to reach higher vegetation. Typical of thyreophorans, Scelidosaurus had osteoderms arranged in horizontal rows covering its body.
Stegouros is a small, early-diverging ankylosaurian dinosaur in the parankylosauria family. It was a small quadrupedal herbivore at about 1.5 meters in length, with osteoderms along its back. The short tail of Stegouros had distinctive axe-like spikes protruding from either side, rather than the more common tail club found in derived ankylosaurids.
