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Obscure Dinosaur of the Week: Dacentrurus armatus

18/5/2012

2 Comments

 
Name: Dacentrurus armatus
Etymology: From the Greek "da" (very), "kentron" (sharp point) and "oura" (tail); and from the Latin for "equipped with armour"
Distribution: Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of England
Type Specimen:  Partial skeleton including the pelvis, femur and some vertebrae
Estimated size: 10 m long and 4.5 m wide
Picture
Picture
Interesting fact: Dacentrurus armatus was the first Stegosaur ever found!
It must have been amazing to be a palaeontologist in England in the 19th century. The term 'Dinosauria' was coined by Richard Owen in 1842 to classify all the seemingly 'weird' reptile fossils being discovered across England and mainland Europe. And then for Owen to find and describe something like Dacentrurus armatus in 1875, unrecognisable even within the newly formed 'Dinosauria', would have caused a stir!

As more species of Dacentrurus were described, it became clear that it possessed sharp spines that ran along the whole length of the spine to the tip of its tail, forming a 'thagomizer' - it is still not certain whether the thagomizer was used for display or defensive purposes. It was also one of the larger stegosaurs, with average stegosaur length measuring around 5.5-6 m. Of course, when working with small sample sizes, it's hard to clarify whether fossils found are truly representative of their species, or whether they were abnormally small or large!
Picture
The original illustration of the type specimen of D. armatus, described by Richard Owen in 1875, showing the pelvic region, various vertebrae and femur. I think as well as a excellent descriptive diagram, it's a wonderful piece of art!
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Simplified cladogram of all dinosaurs. D. armatus was an stegosaur, within thyreophora.
References
Owen, R. 1875. Monographs of the fossil Reptilia of the Mesozoic formations (Pt. II) (genera Bothriospondylus, Cetiosaurus, Omosaurus). Palaeontographical Socoiety Monographs 29; 15 - 93.
2 Comments
liverpool personals link
26/8/2012 01:30:25 pm

Just reading up on some of this lately, was interesting.

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Lee link
12/6/2022 04:43:34 am

This is awesomme

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    About the author

    Dr Caitlin Syme is a palaeontologist studying the taphonomy (preservation state) of fossil non-avian dinosaurs, crocodiles and fish from the Winton Formation, Queensland, Australia. Think forensic science or CSI for fossils, and you're on the right track!

    Posts on this blog focus mainly on vertebrate palaeontology and taphonomy, as well early career researcher (ERC) productivity tips and insights.


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