Page 56 - Dinosaur (DK Eyewitness Books)

Bright pattern
on skin Tough skins

A ȵȺȱȪȤȢȭ ȥȪȯȰȴȢȶȳpȴ ȴȬȪȯ was scaly and waterproof,
and similar to a lizard’s or crocodile’s. It protected
the dinosaur’s body from drying and shriveling up in hot, dry
conditions. The skin was also tough, so it was not easily cut if
the dinosaur fell or was injured in a fight. Ankylosaurs and some
sauropods had skins with bony armor for extra protection—a
theropod biting into their hides risked breaking its teeth. Scientists
learn all this from the fossil impressions left by the skins of some
REPTILIAN SKIN dinosaurs, but we can only guess at the colors of the skin. It is very
The skin of most lizards has flat scales likely, big dinosaurs were as drab as an elephant, but perhaps small
that overlap like roof tiles, but the Gila
monster’s skin is covered in bumpy scales dinosaurs were brightly colored for display or for camouflage.
arranged like tiny, close-set pebbles.
From skin impressions preserved in
rocks, we know that dinosaurs had scales
like this. On parts of their bodies, large
and small scales formed mosaic patterns.

Pea-sized ossicles
(bony lumps)
Saltasaurus

Armored hide

COAT OF ARMOR
The backs and flanks (sides) of Saltasaurus,
and some other dinosaurs in a group
of sauropods called titanosaurs, were
fortified with layers of flexible armor.
Set into their hides were thousands
of bony lumps ranging in size from
peas to dinner plates. Here and
there, ridged bony plates as big
as the palm of a human hand
reinforced the skin.

Saltasaurus
skin impression

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