Polacanthus

What it was like

Polacanthus was an armored plant eater about 5 meters (16 feet) long. Rows of tall spines ran along its neck and shoulders, and a solid shield of fused bony plates covered its hips like a saddle.

Its tail carried pairs of flat, sharp-edged plates but no club. Its skull is poorly known.

Its world

It lived about 137 to 113 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous, in what are now England and Spain. Many of its fossils come from the Wessex Formation of southern England, a land of river plains and seasonal fires.

It shared that land with Iguanodon, Mantellisaurus, Hypsilophodon and the fish-eating Baryonyx.

How it was found

Fox named Polacanthus in 1866. About 13 finds are known. Its closest relative may be Gastonia from North America, and scientists still debate whether the two belong in their own family.