Pawpawsaurus

Pawpawsaurus was a medium-sized armoured dinosaur belonging to the family Nodosauridae, known from Early Cretaceous deposits of the Paw Paw Formation in Texas. 5 metres in length and weighed over a tonne, it walked on four sturdy legs and grazed on ground-level plants. Pawpawsaurus is famous for its remarkably complete, uncrushed skull, which displays distinct osteoderms fused tightly to the cranial roof. Most remarkably, its skull preserves bony eyelid plates, known as palpebrals, which offered enhanced protection for the eyes against predators and scratchy vegetation. Unlike ankylosaurids, it possessed a relatively narrow snout suited for selective feeding. Pawpawsaurus provides important anatomical data showing that advanced cranial protection had already developed within early nodosaurids.

It is one of the few nodosaurs known to possess bony eyelids preserved directly over the eye sockets.

Where and when

Pawpawsaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 105 to 100.5 million years ago (Albian age). Its remains come from United States, in the Paw Paw Formation.

The numbers

Length 4.3 m (estimates run from 4 to 4.5 m). Mass about 1.2 t. Hip height about 1.3 m. That is 2.5 human-lengths, or 0.38 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

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