Polacanthus

genus of reptiles (fossil)

Polacanthus was an armoured, spiked, plant-eating dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous, about 132 to 100 million years ago. Polacanthus means "many spines."

Polacanthus
Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
Armour of Polacanthus foxii
Scientific classification
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Polacanthus

Owen vide Anonymous, 1865

Some paleontologists think that Polacanthus is the same genus as Hylaeosaurus. Fossils of this ankylosaurid have been found in England.

Description

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Polacanthus was about 12 feet (4 m) long and about 4.8 feet (1.5 m) tall. It was a bulky quadruped that relied on its many rows of bony spikes for protection. No head is known for this genus.

 
Hypothetical P. foxii restoration, based mostly on Gastonia