Acanthopholis
Name:
Acanthopholis
(Spiny scales).
Phonetic: Ah-kan-foe-liss.
Named By: Thomas Henry Huxley - 1867.
Synonyms: Syngonosaurus macrocercus
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Ornithischia, Thyreophora, Ankylosauria, Nodosauridae.
Species: A. horrida (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Estimated between 3 and 5.5 meters
long. Exact details are uncertain due to the fragmentary nature of
fossils attributed to the genus.
Known locations: England, Kent - Cambridge
Greensand.
Time period: Albian to Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Scattered and fragmentary
fossils.
Like
with many early named dinosaur genera, the taxonomic history of
Acanthopholis is in the simplest terms a mess.
Numerous species have
been named, reallocated, moved to other genera, and back again,
but all of the fossils involved have been isolated bones found in
association to one another. The first bones assigned to the genus
appear to be those of a nodosaurid,
a kind of quadrupedal dinosaur
covered with armour. Remains of ornithopod dinosaurs have been
mistakenly assigned to the genus in the past, furthering confusion
about the validity of the genus and the species attributed to it. For
this reason Acanthopholis is widely regarded as
being a dubious genus
since the available material for it is not considered diagnostic enough
to identify further individuals.
One
species of Acanthopholis, A. platypus
was transferred to
Macrurosaurus,
though this action has been questioned.
Further reading
- On Acanthopholis horridus, a new reptile from
the Chalk-Mar,
Thomas Henry Huxley - 1867.
- A systematic review of ankylosaurian dinosaur remains from the
Albian-Cenomanian of England, Xabier Pereda-Superbiola &
Paul M. Barrett - 1999.
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