[D] Struthiosaurus [Su] [sG]
Describer
Bunzel, 1870
Time
Cretaceous Late Cenomanian Turonian Coniacian Santonian Campanian Maastrichtian
Classification
Ornithischia Thyreophora Eurypoda Ankylosauria Nodosauridae
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
France, Hungary, Austria, Romania
Typespecies
Struthiosaurus austriacus
Length
> 2 meter
Info
Genus - Skull
Struthiosaurus (Bunzel, 1870) = Pleuropeltus (Seeley, 1881) Crataeomus (Seeley, 1881) Danubiosaurus (Bunzel, 1871) Leipsanosaurus (Nopcsa, 1918)
Struthiosaurus > Struthiosaurus austriacus (Bunzel, 1870) >>> Crataeomus lepidophorus (Seeley, 1881) >> Danubiosaurus anceps (1) (Bunzel, 1871 partim) >> Crataeomus pawlowitschii (Seeley, 1881) >> Pleuropeltus suessi (Seeley, 1881) >> Leipsanosaurus noricus (Nopcsa, 1918) >> Hoplosaurus ischyrus (Seeley, 1881)
Struthiosaurus > \\\\\\\"Struthiosaurus transilvanicus\\\\\\\" (Nopcsa, 1915)
Struthiosaurus > Struthiosaurus languedocensis (Garcia and Pereda-Suberbiola, 2003)
Struthiosaurus (\\\\\\\"ostrich reptile\\\\\\\") is known from the Late Cretaceous of southern Europa (France, Hungary, Austria) and especially from lacalities in an area originally known as Transylvanya in Romania. These remains are particularly interesting because all the dinosaurs from this area (including a sauropod, a hadrosurid and a igianodontid) are dwarf species.
Struthiosaurus is the smallest of all known nodosaurids, measuring no more than 6.5 ft 2m in length. An explanation is that they lived on small islands, whereon there has been shown to be a surprisingly common tendency toward miniaturization. Bunzel originally classified the find in a separate reptilian order Ornithocephala \\\\\\\"bird heads\\\\\\\" (to rank with Huxley\\\\\\\'s Ornithoscelida \\\\\\\"bird legs\\\\\\\") based only on the type skull fragment.
Nopcsa identified the form as a small armored dinosaur, and depicted the animal with a bird-like head and rather fanciful spines and plates. Some later researchers suggested the type skull fragment belonged to a theropod instead, vindicating the bird-connection in the name, but work by J. Pereda-Suberbiola and P. Galton (1994) has confirmed that the type skull came from a juvenile nodosaur. Struthiosaurus is in need of revision and its present status is uncertain.
Bunzel, 1870
Time
Cretaceous Late Cenomanian Turonian Coniacian Santonian Campanian Maastrichtian
Classification
Ornithischia Thyreophora Eurypoda Ankylosauria Nodosauridae
Diet
Herbivore
Fossilsite
France, Hungary, Austria, Romania
Typespecies
Struthiosaurus austriacus
Length
> 2 meter
Info
Genus - Skull
Struthiosaurus (Bunzel, 1870) = Pleuropeltus (Seeley, 1881) Crataeomus (Seeley, 1881) Danubiosaurus (Bunzel, 1871) Leipsanosaurus (Nopcsa, 1918)
Struthiosaurus > Struthiosaurus austriacus (Bunzel, 1870) >>> Crataeomus lepidophorus (Seeley, 1881) >> Danubiosaurus anceps (1) (Bunzel, 1871 partim) >> Crataeomus pawlowitschii (Seeley, 1881) >> Pleuropeltus suessi (Seeley, 1881) >> Leipsanosaurus noricus (Nopcsa, 1918) >> Hoplosaurus ischyrus (Seeley, 1881)
Struthiosaurus > \\\\\\\"Struthiosaurus transilvanicus\\\\\\\" (Nopcsa, 1915)
Struthiosaurus > Struthiosaurus languedocensis (Garcia and Pereda-Suberbiola, 2003)
Struthiosaurus (\\\\\\\"ostrich reptile\\\\\\\") is known from the Late Cretaceous of southern Europa (France, Hungary, Austria) and especially from lacalities in an area originally known as Transylvanya in Romania. These remains are particularly interesting because all the dinosaurs from this area (including a sauropod, a hadrosurid and a igianodontid) are dwarf species.
Struthiosaurus is the smallest of all known nodosaurids, measuring no more than 6.5 ft 2m in length. An explanation is that they lived on small islands, whereon there has been shown to be a surprisingly common tendency toward miniaturization. Bunzel originally classified the find in a separate reptilian order Ornithocephala \\\\\\\"bird heads\\\\\\\" (to rank with Huxley\\\\\\\'s Ornithoscelida \\\\\\\"bird legs\\\\\\\") based only on the type skull fragment.
Nopcsa identified the form as a small armored dinosaur, and depicted the animal with a bird-like head and rather fanciful spines and plates. Some later researchers suggested the type skull fragment belonged to a theropod instead, vindicating the bird-connection in the name, but work by J. Pereda-Suberbiola and P. Galton (1994) has confirmed that the type skull came from a juvenile nodosaur. Struthiosaurus is in need of revision and its present status is uncertain.