Emausaurus
- Lived
- 184 to 183 million years ago, Early Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 2 m (7 ft)
- Group
- Early armored dinosaurs, Scelidosauridae
- Found in
- Germany
- Named by
- Haubold 1990
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical early armored dinosaur shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
185 million years ago
Habitat
It lived on land in what is now Germany, near a shallow sea where its remains were buried.
Field notes
About Emausaurus
What it was like
Emausaurus was a small armored plant eater about 2 meters (7 feet) long, an early relative of the stegosaurs and ankylosaurs. It had rows of bony studs and spikes on its body and walked on four legs. It was close to Scelidosaurus.
Its world
It lived in the Early Jurassic, in what is now Germany. It is one of very few armored dinosaurs from its time.
How it was found
Haubold named Emausaurus in 1990. The name comes from the initials of the German university that studied it.
Field gallery
More views of Emausaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 2
The evidence
The science behind Emausaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The original skeleton preserves parts of the skull and lower jaw, with scattered bones from the rest of the body.
- Its teeth have leaf-shaped crowns with small points along their edges.
- Bony armor includes an elongated piece with a thin outer shell and blood-vessel canals inside.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing body and arrangement of armor are restored by comparison with Scelidosaurus.
- Scutellosaurus provides another comparison for the limbs and skull of an early armored dinosaur.
Still unknown
- The full pattern of armor across its body.
- Its adult size and growth pattern.
- Its color.
Discovery timeline
- 1990Named itHaubold
- 2021Close relativeBreeden et al.
- 2022SkinSchade & Ansorge
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Emausaurus
Named it
Named an early armored dinosaur from a partial skull, scattered body bones and bony armor found in Germany.
Ein neuer Dinosaurier (Ornithischia, Thyreophora) aus dem unteren Jura des nördlichen Mitteleuropa. Revue de Paléobiologie 9: 149-177
No link available
Close relative
Described Scutellosaurus in detail and compared its skull and teeth with Emausaurus, placing both among early branches of the armored dinosaurs.
The anatomy and palaeobiology of the early armoured dinosaur Scutellosaurus lawleri (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Kayenta Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Arizona. Royal Society Open Science 8
Read the paper : The anatomy and palaeobiology of the early armoured dinosaur Scutellosaurus lawleri (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Kayenta Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Arizona (opens in a new tab)Skin
Scanned an Emausaurus armor bone and compared it with a separate find, revealing its thin outer shell and internal blood-vessel canals.
New thyreophoran dinosaur material from the Early Jurassic of northeastern Germany. PalZ 96: 303-311
Read the paper : New thyreophoran dinosaur material from the Early Jurassic of northeastern Germany (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Scelidosauridae
Sources: Wikidata