Polacanthus
Polacanthus was an armoured, spiked, plant-eating dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous, about 132 to 100 million years ago. Polacanthus means "many spines."
| Polacanthus Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
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| Armour of Polacanthus foxii | |
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| Genus: | Polacanthus Owen vide Anonymous, 1865
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Some paleontologists think that Polacanthus is the same genus as Hylaeosaurus. Fossils of this ankylosaurid have been found in England.
Description
Polacanthus was about 12 feet (4 m) long and about 4.8 feet (1.5 m) tall. It was a bulky quadruped that relied on its many rows of bony spikes for protection. No head is known for this genus.
Polacanthus Media
Estimated size based on the holotype.
Type specimen of Polacanthus foxii
Comparative illustration of the pelvis of Polacanthus foxii.
Historical P. foxii skeletal restoration by Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás
Fossil of Polacanthus, an extinct dinosaur-- Took the photo at Natural History Museum, London
Tail, centrum, and scute fragments
PLATE 70. *Fig. 1. Posterior view of a vertebra from the front of the chestt *Fig. 2. Oblique lateral view of the same. *Fig. 3. Fragment of a large keeled scute with grooved margin and submarginal rings of tubercles. *Jc. Beginning keel. Fig. 4. Sectional view at x in fig. 3. (This and fig. 3 are slightly reduced.)
