Silvisaurus
"forest lizard"
- Lived
- 106 to 101 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 4 m (13 ft)
- Group
- Ankylosaurs, Nodosauridae
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Eaton 1960
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical ankylosaur shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
105 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in warm forests near the coast of the Western Interior Seaway. Fossil leaves near its find in the Dakota Formation record that woodland.
Field notes
About Silvisaurus
What it was like
Silvisaurus was a nodosaur about 4 meters (13 feet) long, an armored plant eater with bony plates on its back and no tail club. Unusually for its group, it still had a few teeth at the front of its upper jaw.
Its world
It lived in the Cretaceous in what is now Kansas, in the United States. Its bones come from the Dakota Formation, rocks laid down in forests and river plains near the shore of a sea.
How it was found
Eaton named Silvisaurus in 1960, from a single find with a skull. It is the only dinosaur named from land rocks in Kansas and is the state's official land fossil.
Field gallery
More views of Silvisaurus
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
The evidence
The science behind Silvisaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The original skeleton preserves a skull, lower jaw and parts of the backbone and ribs.
- Bony armor plates and a large spike from the shoulder region were found with the skeleton.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing limb shapes are restored using other armored plant eaters such as Sauropelta.
- Its armor probably had horn coverings, like those preserved in Borealopelta.
Still unknown
- The complete arrangement of its armor plates and spikes.
- Its color and markings.
- How its body changed as it grew.
Discovery timeline
- 1960Named itEaton & Jr
- 2005Fossil sitesLiggett
- 2017Close relativeBrown et al.
- 2018Its worldBrownstein
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Silvisaurus
Named it
Named Silvisaurus from an armored dinosaur skeleton with a skull, jaw and parts of the backbone.
A new armored dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Kansas. The University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions: Vertebrata 8: 1-24
No link available
Fossil sites
Reviewed the original Silvisaurus skeleton and a separate, possible find preserved as a natural mold of fused hip vertebrae.
A review of the dinosaurs from Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 108: 1-14
Read the paper : A review of the dinosaurs from Kansas (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Described Borealopelta with preserved scales and horn coverings over its armor, a guide to restoring the coverings of other armored dinosaurs.
An Exceptionally Preserved Three-Dimensional Armored Dinosaur Reveals Insights into Coloration and Cretaceous Predator-Prey Dynamics. Current Biology 27: 2514-2521.e3
Read the paper : An Exceptionally Preserved Three-Dimensional Armored Dinosaur Reveals Insights into Coloration and Cretaceous Predator-Prey Dynamics (opens in a new tab)Its world
Placed Silvisaurus in a warm forest near a seaway coast and reviewed the other dinosaurs of eastern North America.
The biogeography and ecology of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs of Appalachia. Palaeontologia Electronica: 1-56
Read the paper : The biogeography and ecology of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs of Appalachia (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Nodosauridae
Sources: Wikidata