Silvisaurus
Name:
Silvisaurus
(Woodland lizard).
Phonetic: Sil-ve-sore-us.
Named By: Theodore H. Eaton Jr - 1960.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Thyreophora, Ankylosauria, Nodosauridae.
Species: S. condrayi (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Skull 25 centimetres long. Body
estimated to be about 4 meters long.
Known locations: USA, Kansas - Dakota
Formation.
Time period: Albian to Cenomanian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial post cranial
skeleton, skull and mandible.
Silvisaurus is to date only known by a partial skeleton, and this is in a poor state of preservation that was weathered and trampled by cattle for a long time before it was discovered. Despite the poor state of preservation, Silvisaurus is considered to have been a primitive form of nodosaur that maybe more closely related to Pawpawsaurus, Sauropelta and Cedarpelta. Like all other nodosaurs, Silvisaurus would have been a quadrupedal low browsing dinosaur heavily armoured with spines and bony armour along its back and sides. The skull of Silvisaurus has large openings which may have been passages for resonating loud vocalisations.
Further reading
- A new armored dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Kansas. - Theodore
H. Eaton Jr - 1960.
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