Struthiosaurus

Struthiosaurus was a remarkably small nodosaurid ankylosaur that roamed island environments across Late Cretaceous Europe. Measuring around two to three metres in length and weighing only a few hundred kilograms, it was diminutive compared to massive continental relatives like Edmontonia. Palaeontologists consider this modest size to be a clear consequence of insular dwarfism, where limited food resources on ancient islands favoured smaller body proportions. In spite of its modest stature, Struthiosaurus was well protected, bearing a series of bony scutes along its back and prominent spikes protruding from its neck and shoulders. It cropped shrubs and low-growing flora while coexisting with other dwarfed island dinosaurs.

It is an example of insular dwarfism, evolving a remarkably small body size on the Late Cretaceous European archipelago.

Where and when

Struthiosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 83.6 to 66 million years ago (Campanian-Maastrichtian age). Its remains come from Austria and France and Hungary and Romania, in the Gosau Group.

The numbers

Length 2.5 m (estimates run from 2 to 3 m). Mass about 280 kg. Hip height about 0.8 m. That is 1.5 human-lengths, or 0.22 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Struthiosaurus with a bus Place on the timeline