Page 57 - Dinosaur (DK Eyewitness Books)

Large spiked lump

Armored
Polacanthus skin

KNOBBLED DEFENSE Mud filled every tiny
This skin impression is a sample of the crease in the skin,
knobbled plates that protected the ankylosaur creating this fine cast
Polacanthus (“many spine”). Spiked lumps projected
from its back and tail, and a bony corset set into
the skin above its hips guarded against the teeth
and claws of hungry theropods. Polacanthus
measured 13–16 ft (4–5 m), and
roamed western Europe around Pitted surface
130 million years ago.

BON< B$&K
This bony scute (plate) was one of many
shielding an ankylosaur’s back. The tiny
pits peppering its upper surface show
the positions of blood vessels. The
scute’s flattened underside was fixed
in the animal’s skin. The plate was S&$L< SK,N
covered by a tightly fitting horny A fossilized cast of a patch of skin from
sheath made of keratin—the same Edmontosaurus, a hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur),
material as our fingernails—which features a mass of little scales, which made the skin
locked into the tiny pits. The horny flexible. In places, there were also large, raised
sheath was worn down during conical scales, and some hadrosaurs had small horny
the ankylosaur’s life, but grew Ridge reinforced spines that stuck up from the neck, back, and tail.
to keep pace with the wear. the bony plate Perhaps the patterned areas on the skin of
hadrosaurs were brightly colored.
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The ankylosaur Edmontonia bristled with
body armor. Bony plates reinforced its
skull, spikes jutted from its shoulders
and flanks, and three rows of big
bony plates shielded the neck
and shoulders. Small ridged
plates covered the back,
hips, and tail.

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Armor of the kind that was found in ankylosaurs is not
unique to dinosaurs. Some modern mammals, such as
armadillos (“little armored ones”) have similar defenses.
Bands of scutes (plates) on flexible skin run crosswise
across an armadillo’s body, and stiff shields guard the hips
and shoulders. The head, tail, and upper parts of the limbs
are armored, too. The weakest spot is the unprotected belly.

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