Dyoplosaurus
Name:
Dyoplosaurus
(Double armoured lizard).
Phonetic: Die-op-loe-sore-us.
Named By: William A. Parks - 1924.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Thyreophora, Ankylosauridae, Ankylosaurinae.
Species: D. acutosquameus
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of complete remains,
but estimated between 4 and 4.5 meters long.
Known locations: Canada, Alberta - Dinosaur
Park Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skeleton, mostly of
the posterior half as well as incomplete skull and jaws.
When
this genus was first discovered, only the posterior portion of an
individual ankylosaur remained to be studied. It is thought the
anterior half had been previously exposed by erosion and was now lost,
though part of the skull and teeth were found. The rear half of the
dinosaur, including the tail and even the ossified tendons that held
it straight were much better preserved, with the remains being
considered amongst the best set of ankylosaur remains discovered for
the time.
Then
in 1971 during a wider evaluation of ankylosaur fossils the
palaeontologist Walter Coombs declared that Dyoplosaurus
was actually
an individual of another genus called Euoplocephalus.
This led to the
Dyoplosaurus material being re-described as
belonging to the
Euoplocephalus type species, E. tutus.
Here
they remained until
2009 when a re-description of the remains was conducted which saw
Dyoplosaurus resurrected as an independent genus.
The main validation
for this is that the Dyoplosaurus tail is quite
different from those of
other known ankylosaurs and is unique enough to allow for a clear
identification of further ankylosaur remains that preserve the tail and
hind quarters.
Further reading
-Dyoplosaurus acutosquameus, a new genus and
species of armoured
dinosaur; and notes on a skeleton of Prosaurolophus maximus,
William A. Parks - 1924
-A redescription of the ankylosaurid dinosaur Dyoplosaurus
acutosquameus Parks, 1924 (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria)
and a
revision of the genus, Victoria M. Arboura, Michael E. Burnsa
& Robin L. Sissonsa - 2009.
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