Thescelosaurus neglectus ran upright on two legs, using its long tail for balance. It fed on low-lying vegetation.
This "beautiful but neglected lizard" was not recognized as unique until decades after the first fossils were collected.
Thescelosaurus neglectus
was an upright runner that moved on two legs and used its long tail for
balance. It remained relatively close to the ground and browsed
low-lying vegetation.
Thescelosaurus has been at the
heart of a prehistoric controversy because some have suggested the
animal represents an evolutionary link between crocodilians and birds. A
specimen nicknamed "Willo" may be the first dinosaur ever found with a
fossilized heart. Some scientists further suggest that the organ is a
four-chambered heart more like those of mammals or birds than those of
reptiles.
Such a heart would help support the hypothesis that
dinosaurs were warm-blooded, active animals more like today's birds or
mammals than reptiles. However, whether the fossil even has a heart at
all has been the subject of much debate. A number of scientists dispute
the findings.
Thescelosaurus roamed western North America
late in the reign of the dinosaurs, from perhaps as early as about 75
million years ago until the catastrophic Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction
65 million years ago.
Fast Facts
- Type:
- Prehistoric
- Diet:
- Herbivore
- Size:
- 12 ft (3.7 m) long; 650 lbs (300 kg)
- Protection status:
- Extinct
- Did you know?
- The first Thescelosaurus specimens, collected in the late 19th century, sat in a crate for decades before they were rediscovered.
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