Dinosaurs | Egypt | Mesopotamia |Human Ancestors
Euoplocephalus tutus ("true plated head")
roamed what is now the American West during the Middle to Late Cretaceous (between
65 and 120 million years ago). These ankylosaurs would have used their beak-like
mouths to clip vegetation off low-growing plants. The large head of E.
tutus was heavily armored, as was the rest of its body. This was an adaptation to
the predator-rich world in which it lived -- it also had a bony club at the
end of its tail to lash out at attackers.
Location
Paleontologists find Euoplocephalus fossils in the rocks of the Upper Cretaceous
of Canada and the United States. Their estimates put Euoplocephalus' weight
at as much as 2 tons. There seems little doubt that Euoplocephalus tutus
did not try to flee when attacked, instead it squatted down, presenting a
nearly impervious back to attackers.
Taxonomy
Euoplocephalus is the best known of the ankylosaurs scientifically. These medium
sized (7-9 meters long), plant-eating ornithischians were quadrupedal and are
grouped with the nodosaurs in the Ankylosauria. The Ankylosauria and Stegosauria
are grouped together as thyreophorans.
Anatomy
The small low skull (width between the eyes exceeds height of the skull) of E.
tutus is characterized by a beak and leaf-shaped, non-interlocking teeth, similar
to the teeth of stegosaurs. In addition to a thick bony layer on the top of its
skull, Euoplocephalus' tank like body was covered with bands and scutes of bone
on its back and tail. Unlike other ankylosaurs, Euoplocephalus had no spines
in its body armor, but the tip of its tail bore a heavy club of solid bone.
[ Dinosauria -> Ornithischia -> Thyreophora -> Ankylosauria -> Ankylosauridae ]
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