GEOL 305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Dashanpu Formation, Lexovisaurus, Dzungaria
11 Nov 2016
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Dorsal plates of thyreophorans were not connected to skeleton in any way. Osteoderms are bony plates embedded in skin, & thus could well have swayed w/ movement of animal. Spines & plates which this group has does hint at special behaviors. Early jurassic basal thyreophoran found in posidonian shale in n. germany. Genera considered more advanced = chialingsaurus, crateosaurus, Not all are agreed to be valid. Chialingsaurus (late jurassic) is based on partial skeleton. Craterosaurus (early cretaceous) is based on some vertebrae only. Based on partial skeleton of sub-adult individual. Don"t know how shoulder spines were oriented. Shoulder spines may have been up to 1 meter in length (day 6) Stegosaurids smaller stegosaurid, ~ 5 m in length. Middle jurassic; lower shaximiao formation (sw china) Smaller; between 4 & 4. 5 meters in length. Known from one almost complete skeleton & several partial skeletons. 9 pairs of leaf-shaped plates on back.
