Struthiosaurus

Stru-fe-o-sore-us.
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Lilah Turner

Evolutionary Biologist

Lilah Turner investigates how prehistoric animals adapted to changing environments, offering insights into evolution's mechanisms.

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Name

Struthiosaurus ‭(‬Ostrich lizard‭)‬.

Phonetic

Stru-fe-o-sore-us.

Named By

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Ornithischia,‭ ‬Nodosauridae,‭ ‬Struthiosaurinae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

S.‭ ‬austriacus‭

Size

About‭ ‬2.2‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

Austria‭ ‬-‭ ‬Coal-Bearing Complex Formation,‭ ‬Gr�nbach Formation.‭ ‬France.‭ ‬Romania‭ ‬-‭ ‬S�npetru Formation,‭ ‬Sard Formation,‭ ‬Sebes Formation.‭ ‬Spain‭ ‬-‭ ‬Sierra Perenchiza Formation,‭ ‬Vitoria Formation.

Time Period

Campanian to Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Numerous individuals.

In Depth

       Struthiosaurus seems to have been fairly common across Europe during the Late Cretaceous,‭ ‬a time when much of continental Europe was more like an island chain.‭ ‬Originally based upon fragmentary Austrian material,‭ ‬many genera named by Harry Govier Seeley late in the nineteenth century have now been synonymised with Struthiosaurus.‭ ‬This combined with multiple fossil discoveries from other countries such as Romania have seen the Struthiosaurus genus expanded to include three species and be known by fossil material from over a dozen individuals.

       Struthiosaurus was a very small nodosaur with fossils seemingly coming from individuals from about two meters,‭ ‬to two meters,‭ ‬twenty centimetres in length.‭ ‬This is likely a reflection of Struthiosaurus living on islands which had reduced food availability.‭ ‬By growing smaller,‭ ‬Struthiosaurus would have been much less likely to exhaust the limited food sources,‭ ‬and so this could be chalked up as a case of insular dwarfism.‭ ‬Still,‭ ‬Struthiosaurus retained their armour skin,‭ ‬probably as a result of the continued presence of predatory dinosaurs,‭ ‬possibly dromaeosaurid theropods.

       Struthiosaurus should not be confused with Struthiomimus,‭ ‬an ornithomimid dinosaur that was living in North America at a similar time that Struthiosaurus was living in Europe.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬Notice of a fragment of a reptilian skull from the Upper Cretaceous of Gr�nbach.‭ ‬Quarterly Review of the Geological Society of London‭ ‬26:394.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Emanuel Bunzel‭ ‬-‭ ‬1871. -‭ ‬The reptile fauna of the Gosau Formation preserved in the Geological Museum of the University of Vienna‭ ‬-‭ ‬Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London‭ ‬37‭(‬148‭)‬:‭ ‬620-707.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Harry Govier Seeley‭ ‬-‭ ‬1881. -‭ ‬Leipsanosaurus n.‭ ‬gen.‭ ‬ein neuer thyreophore aus der Gosau.‭ ‬-F�ldtani K�zl�ny‭ ‬48:‭ ‬324-328.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Franz Nopsca‭ ‬-‭ ‬1918. -‭ ‬A new species of Struthiosaurus‭ (‬Dinosauria:‭ ‬Ankylosauria‭) ‬from the Upper Cretaceous of Villeveyrac‭ (‬southern France‭)‬.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology‭ ‬23‭(‬1‭)‬:‭ ‬156-165.‭ ‬-‭ ‬G.‭ ‬Garcia‭ & ‬X.‭ ‬Pereda-Suberbiola‭ ‬-‭ ‬2003.

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