Hippodraco

Hip-po-dray-co.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Hippodraco ‭(‬Horse Dragon‭)‬.

Phonetic

Hip-po-dray-co.

Named By

A.‭ ‬T.‭ ‬McDonald,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬I.‭ ‬Kirkland,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬DeBlieux,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Madsen,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Cavin,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬R.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Milner‭ & ‬L.‭ ‬Panzarin‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Ornithopoda,‭ ‬Styracosterna.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

H.‭ ‬scutodens‭

Size

Roughly about 4.5 meters long.

Known locations

USA,‭ ‬Utah‭ ‬-‭ ‬Cedar Mountain Formation‭ [‬Yellow Cat Member‭]‬.

Time Period

Barremian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Skull and partial post cranial remains including parts of the upper fore arm,‭ ‬lower leg,‭ ‬shoulder,‭ ‬pelvis and some vertebrae.

In Depth

       Hippodraco is a genus of medium sized ornithopod dinosaur that lived in North America during the early Cretaceous.‭ ‬Though still a fairly large dinosaur when compared to a person,‭ ‬Hippodraco paled in comparison to the impressively large Iguanacolossus,‭ ‬which‭ ‬is known from the same member of the Cedar Mountain Formation that Hippodraco was found in,‭ ‬strongly suggesting that the two genera lived in same approximate ecosystems at the same time.‭ ‬Hippodraco would have fed upon low to medium height plants‭ ‬while keeping a lookout for predatory theropod dinosaurs.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬New basal iguanodonts from the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah and the evolution of thumb-spiked dinosaurs.‭ ‬-‭ ‬PLoS One‭ ‬5‭(‬11‭)‬:e14075:1-35.‭ ‬-‭ ‬A.‭ ‬T.‭ ‬McDonald,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬I.‭ ‬Kirkland,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬DeBlieux,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬K.‭ ‬Madsen,‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Cavin,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬R.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Milner‭ & ‬L.‭ ‬Panzarin‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010.

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