Panoplosaurus

Skull of Panoplosaurus mirus

• Canada

• Panoplosaurus mirus Lambe, 1919

Panoplosaurus is a genus of bird Beck dinosaur from the group of Ankylosauria. You are expected to Nodosauridae, where it is one of the youngest representatives. She lived in the Upper Cretaceous in North America.

Features

Panoplosaurus reached a length of up to 7 meters, the skull was 40 centimeters long. Like all Ankylosauria he had an armor of bony plates ( osteoderms ) that covered the top of the head, neck, trunk and tail. These plates were arranged in longitudinal rows, unique construction of the plates on the neck: these were oval -oblong in shape. The occurring in many Nodosauridae bony spines are not aware of Panoplosaurus. He had the usual physique of Ankylosauria: the stocky body was carried by four strong limbs, he moved quadruped ( on all fours ) away. The tail did not end, as with all Nodosauridae in a bony club.

The skull was narrow and pointed, and ended in a horny beak. He was also armored at the top, in addition, the cheek of a bone plate was covered. He is one of the more developed Nodosauridae, which can be seen among others at well-developed bony palate and edentulous premaxilla. The teeth were small and leaf -shaped and adapted to a plant-based diet.

Discovery and designation

Fossil remains of Panoplosaurus were found in the Canadian province of Alberta and first described by the famous Canadian palaeontologist Lawrence Lambe. The name derives from the Greek παν-/pan- ( = 'all' ), ὅπλον/-hoplon- ( = "shield" ) and σαῦρος / sauros ( = " lizard" ) from. Today, only one species is P. mirus, the type species is recognized; two other species, P. longiceps and P. rugosidens, are now assigned to the genus Edmontonia. The findings of Panoplosaurus be dated to the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian ) to an age of around 76-72 million years.

System

Panoplosaurus is expected within the Ankylosauria in the group of Nodosauridae. Its closest relative is probably Edmontonia, together they form an unnamed clade more sophisticated Nodosauridae who lived at the end of the Cretaceous period and probably disappeared in the mass extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.