Emausaurus

Emausaurus was an early armoured dinosaur that lived in northern Germany during the Early Jurassic period. It belonged to the basal radiation of thyreophorans, the ancestral lineage that would ultimately give rise to both the plate-backed stegosaurs and heavily tanked ankylosaurs. Measuring roughly two to two and a half metres in length, this small animal was about the size of a sheep and likely moved mostly on all fours. Its body was protected by rows of small bony scutes embedded in its skin, providing basic defence against contemporary predatory theropods. The fossil remains consist of skull elements, lower jaws, vertebrae, and dermal plates. Emausaurus possessed small leaf-shaped teeth adapted for grinding low-growing ferns and cycads. As one of only a handful of basal thyreophorans known from Europe, it offers valuable clues about the transition from agile bipedal ancestors to heavily armoured quadrupeds.

Its name honours the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, where the original fossil material was studied.

Where and when

Emausaurus lived in the Early Jurassic, from 184.2 to 182.9 million years ago (Toarcian age). Its remains come from Germany, in the Ciechocinek Formation.

The numbers

Length 2.3 m (estimates run from 2 to 2.5 m). Mass about 46 kg. Hip height about 0.7 m. That is 1.4 human-lengths, or 0.21 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Emausaurus with a bus Place on the timeline