Nodosaurus

Nodosaurus is the founding member of Nodosauridae, one of the two major families of armoured ankylosaurian dinosaurs. Discovered in Wyoming and described by Othniel Charles Marsh during the late nineteenth century, it lived during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Estimated at four to six metres in length, Nodosaurus had a robust, barrel-shaped body supported by four short, sturdy legs. Its skin was covered in a network of narrow bands formed of rounded, pebble-like bony nodules, interspaced with larger oval scutes. Unlike ankylosaurids, it completely lacked a tail club and featured smaller lateral spines than relatives such as Sauropelta. As a low-browsing herbivore, it used its narrow beak and leaf-shaped teeth to crop ferns and other low vegetation along the coastal margins of the Western Interior Seaway.

It is the namesake genus of the family Nodosauridae, characterized by its tightly packed pebble-like armour plates.

Where and when

Nodosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 99.6 to 93.9 million years ago (Cenomanian age). Its remains come from United States, in the Frontier Formation.

The numbers

Length 5 m (estimates run from 4 to 6 m). Mass about 1.7 t. Hip height about 1.3 m. That is 2.9 human-lengths, or 0.45 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.

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