Dinosaur genus
Scelidosaurus
Scelidosaurus is a dinosaur genus known from bones, found in rocks 201.4–174.7 million years old, in the United Kingdom and China.
Confidence labels are switched off. Facts with low confidence, or where sources disagree, still carry a small dot: tap it for the reason.
At a glance
Data as of 5 October 2026- Named by
- Owen 1859
medium
medium: PBDB and Wikidata agree on who named it; Wikidata gives the year as 1860, one year apart, as when a work is dated one year and comes out the next.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Described in
- R. Owen (1859). Palaeontology. The Encyclopaedia Brittanica, or Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature (8th Edition) 17: 91–176.
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; its author and year match the naming authority (Owen 1859).Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. The publication the Paleobiology Database gives as the authority for this genus name, usually the one that first named and described it.
- Lived
- Rhaetian to Toarcian, 205.7–174.7 million years ago
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives a range this precise; NHM's records give only a broader interval, which contains it.Omnisaura calculation201.4–174.7 million years ago, from its dated fossil recordsmedium
medium: Omnisaura's calculation from 11 confirmed PBDB records.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Fossils found in
- United KingdomChina
high
high: NHM and PBDB both record it.low
low: Only one PBDB record.mixed
mixed: Levels differ between entries; each has its own.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database; Natural History Museum Data Portal. How it was chosen: Union of all sources (ISO 3166).
- Rock formations
- Charmouth MudstoneRedcar Mudstone Formation
medium
medium: Only PBDB records it (10 records).disputed
low: Only NHM gives this name and it matches no PBDB formation; awaiting an editor.mixed
mixed: Levels differ between entries; each has its own.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database; Natural History Museum Data Portal. How it was chosen: Canonical names, automatic and editor-approved matches applied.
- Family
- Scelidosauridae
high
high: PBDB and NHM agree.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database; Natural History Museum Data Portal. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Parent group
- Scelidosauridae
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB leads.
- Order
- Ornithischia
medium
medium: Only NHM gives this; nothing contradicts it.Sources
Given by: Natural History Museum Data Portal. How it was chosen: Gap filled from NHM.
- Species named in its records
- Scelidosaurus harrisonii
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (the species its fossil records are identified as).
- Diet
- herbivore (inferred for its group)
medium
medium: Only PBDB gives this, and it infers it for the whole of Ornithischia, the group this genus belongs to, not from this genus's own fossils.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
- Way of life
- ground dwelling, gregarious (inferred for its group)
low
low: PBDB infers this way of life for the whole of Ornithischia; behaviour is rarely known for one genus.Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database. How it was chosen: PBDB, inferred from a group the genus belongs to.
- Known from
- Bones
Sources
Given by: Paleobiology Database (what the name was based on).
Gaps are answers
What isn't known yet
- Type species: no source we use gives it yet.
- Common names: no source we use gives it yet.
- What it was named after: no source we use gives it yet.
- Held back: 2 fossil records left out: identified only tentatively (for example "cf.", "?" or the name in quotation marks).
- Resting on one source: 4 facts come from a single source with nothing against them (rated medium): parent group (PBDB); order (NHM); age (headline) (PBDB); diet (PBDB).
Size and appearance aren't covered yet, and diet and way of life only as PBDB infers them for the wider group. Omnisaura leaves the rest out rather than guess.
Where sources disagree
1 openFormations
- records nothing herePBDB
- Redcar Mudstone FormationNHM
One source names a formation the other does not. An editor hasn't ruled yet, so this is rated low until they do.
Did it meet…?
No. Scelidosaurus had gone at least 91.1 million years before Tyrannosaurus appears in the fossil record, a longer gap than the 66 million years between Tyrannosaurus and today.
Going by the ages and rock formations of their dated fossils, as on the map. Compare their fossil sites on the map.
Connections
Genera linked to Scelidosaurus by where and when their fossils were found, by classification and by who named them. Select a name to open its page.
Named by Owen 4
Genera whose naming authority includes the same surname. The authority has no initials, so different people who share a surname can appear together.
Found in United Kingdom 1
Other genera found in United Kingdom, from rocks of overlapping age, the most fossil sites there first.
Credits
Where this page comes from
- Paleobiology DatabaseCC BY 4.0 · fossil records, ages, classification
- Natural History Museum Data PortalCC0 1.0 · catalogued specimens
- WikidataCC0 1.0 · names and identifiers
- OmnisauraOmnisaura editorial · confidence levels and gaps
- PaleoMAP PaleoCoastlines (Kocsis and Scotese 2021)CC BY 4.0 · ancient coastlines on the small map
- Natural EarthPublic domain · today's coastlines
Pictures linked from this page are credited beside each one, with their own licences; the full list is in the JSON download.