Scutellosaurus is a thyreophoran dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of the United States of America. It was named in 1981 by Edwin Harris Colbert. It was a thyreophoran more primitive than Scelidosaurus, despite appearing 500,000 years later.
Physiology
Scutellosaurus was a bipedal thyreophoran with a broad body, long legs, moderately long arms, a long tail, and a mid-sized head with a small, beaked mouth. Most of its body would have been covered in osteoderms, while its head, underside, and limbs would have been covered in regular scales.
Diet
Scutellosaurus was an herbivore, feeding on plants low to the ground. Its beak was used to clamp onto plants and strip them off, while the many teeth in the back of its mouth would cut them into pieces.
Ecology
So far, all we know about Scutellosaurus is that it had many noteworthy features that would pass on to later thyreophorans (one of which was protective armor), it was bipedal (in contrast to Scelidosaurus, which was quadrupedal), and despite its protective armor, it still would have fallen prey to predators such as Megapnosaurus and Dilophosaurus.