NAME

Meaning - Panoplosaurus means “Totally-armored lizard”
Pronounced - PAN-o-plo-SAWR-us
Named By - Lawrence Lambe
When Named - 1919
DIET

Herbivore (plant-eater) - it ate low-lying plants
SIZE

Length - 23 ft (7 m) long
Height - 4 ft (1.2 m) tall at the hips
Weight - 3.5 tons
WHEN IT LIVED

Late Cretaceous period, about 76-73 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found in Alberta (Canada) and Montana (USA), North America.
FOSSILS

The first Panoplosaurus fossil was found in the Judith River Formation in Alberta, Canada. Fossils have also been found in Montana, USA.
CLASSIFICATION
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Ornithischia - beaked, bird-hipped dinosaurs that were plant-eaters
  • Suborder Thyreophora (Enoplosauria) - armored, spiked and/or plated dinosaurs
  • Superfamily Ankylosauria - armored dinosaurs
  • Family Nodosauridae - having no tail club
  • Genus Panoplosaurus
  • Species P. mirus (type species named by Lambe, 1919)
INTERESTING FACTS

Panoplosaurus was a nodosaurid ankylosaur (a tank-like dinosaur with no tail club) that had a bulky, heavily-armored body, four short legs, a short neck, a wide skull, and a stiff tail. It was protected by bony plates over much of its body and by short spikes on its shoulders, neck, head, and sides. It had a toothless beak and leaf-shaped cheek teeth.
LINKS

A coloring/information page on Panoplosaurus.