RELATIONSHIPS OF THE LOWER JURASSIC DINOSAUR SCELIDOSAURUS HARRISONII
1977; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 51; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1937-2337
Autores Tópico(s)Ichthyology and Marine Biology
ResumoThe ornithischian dinosaurs of the English Lias (Lower Jurassic) are reviewed. The acknowledged type specimen of Scelidosaurus harrisonii, commonly regarded as a primitive stegosaur, is identified as an ornithopod adapted for graviportal locomotion; it probably resembled the iguanodontids Tenontosaurus and Iguanodon in general appearance, but cannot easily be related with any known line of ornithopod descent. A contemporary ornithischian, mentioned in the literature as a juvenile or small specimen of Scelidosaurus, is recognized as a lightly built ornithopod adapted for cursorial locomotion; it is not a close relative of Scelidosaurus harrisonii. This cursorial ornithopod is probably a fairly direct descendant of the Upper Triassic Fabrosaurus australis and may well be identical with a fragmentary Hypsilophodon-like form which is also recorded from the English Lias. None of these Liassic dinosaurs is related to stegosaurs or to ankylosaurs, and there is no convincing evidence that any ornithischian dinosaur had advanced beyond the ornithopod level of organization before the Middle Jurassic.
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