Dracopelta
| Dracopelta | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Upper Jurassic (late Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian ) | ||||||||||||
| 154.7 to 147.7 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Dracopelta | ||||||||||||
| Galton , 1980 | ||||||||||||
| species | ||||||||||||
|
Dracopelta is a little-known genus of the bird pelvic dinosaur (Ornithischia) from the group of the Ankylosauria . He is considered to be one of the oldest and most primeval representatives of this group.
Dracopelta was a very small ankylosaur with an estimated length of 2 meters. So far only individual vertebrae , ribs and bone plates (osteoderms) have been found of this dinosaur , which do not allow any precise conclusions to be drawn about its appearance. Presumably he had the build typical of the ankylosauria with the sturdy body armored with bone plates and the short, strong limbs. Like all representatives of this group, it is likely to have fed on plants.
The fossil remains of Dracopelta were discovered in Portugal and first described in 1980 . The name is derived from the Latin draco (= "dragon") and the Greek πελτα / pelta (= "shield"). The only known species and thus type species is Dracopelta zbyszewskii . The finds in the Upper Jurassic (Upper Kimmeridgian to Lower Tithonian ) are dated to an age of 155 to 147 million years.
Dracopelta is considered a primitive ankylosauria and is one of the few representatives of this group that has been passed down from the Jura. Due to the sparse finds, an exact systematic classification is not possible, this dinosaur is therefore listed as Ankylosauria incertae sedis .
literature
- Matthew K. Vickaryous, Teresa Maryańska , David B. Weishampel : Ankylosauria. In: David B. Weishampel, Peter Dodson , Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 , pp. 363-392.
Individual evidence
- ^ Gregory S. Paul : The Princeton Field Guide To Dinosaurs. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ et al. 2010, ISBN 978-0-691-13720-9 , p. 229, online .