FACT SHEET: scutellosaurus NAME: SCUTELLOSAURUS (SKOO-tell-oh-SAW-rus) - "Little Shield Lizard" SIZE: 53 inches long, 18 inches tall (the size of a sheep), weighed 22 pounds TYPE OF DIET: Herbivore (leaves from plants) WHEN: Early Jurassic period (200 million years ago) WHERE: Arizona (North America) Scutellosaurus lived about 200 million years ago. It was one of the most primitive armored dinosaurs of its time. Two rows of large plates ran down its back. Hundreds of small bony plates - six different types - covered its back and tail. These bony shields grew out of its skin. They protected this dinosaur against bigger, meat-eating dinosaurs. The name Scutellosaurus means "little shield lizard". It got its name from its heavy armor. It looked like a lizard and it wasn’t very large. It was only about four feet long and 18 inches tall. It was about 53 inches long from nose to tail. Its tail was long, about half its total length. Even though it had a lot of heavy plates on its skin, Scuttellosaurus was a very fast runner. Often, the best protection a dinosaur could have against predators was to run away as quickly as possible. It had a long tail and a long body. Its thin hind legs were much longer than its front legs. When it ran, it ran on two legs. It could also walk on four legs, which might have been easier since all that armor was heavy. Scuttellosaurus liked to live in hot, dry places. It was an herbivore, meaning that it only ate plants. It had leaf-shaped teeth to snip off leaves, but probably did not chew its food before swallowing. This is because it didn’t have any cheeks to store its food. So it might have swallowed its food whole. Fossils of Scutellosaurus have been found in what is now Arizona, North America. Dinosaur Days TM © 2010 Distant Train, inc. (www.distanttrain.com) all rights reserved.