Scelidosaurus Harrisonii Owen, 1861 (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Early Jurassic Of Dorset, England: biology and phylogenetic relationships

Norman, D. B. (2020) Scelidosaurus Harrisonii Owen, 1861 (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Early Jurassic Of Dorset, England: biology and phylogenetic relationships. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 191 (1). pp. 1-86. ISSN ISSN (Print) 0024-4082 - ISSN (Online) 1096-3642

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Abstract

A layer of keratinous scutes encased the skull of Scelidosaurus. The neurocranium as well as the associated principal sensory systems of this dinosaur are described. The cranial musculature is reconstructed and a subsequent functional analysis suggests that jaw motion was orthal, allowing pulping of vegetation and some high-angle shearing between opposing teeth. Wishboning of the lower jaw was enabled by transverse displacement of the quadrates; and the long-axis mandibular torsion that occurred during the chewing cycle was permitted by flexibility at the dentary symphysis. Limb proportions and pectoral and pelvic musculature reconstructions suggest that Scelidosaurus was a facultative quadruped of ‘average’ locomotor ability; it retains some anatomical features indicative of a bipedal-cursorial ancestry. Hindlimb motion was oblique-to-parasagittal to accommodate the girth of the abdomen. Scelidosaurus used a combination of costal and abdominally driven aspiration. The hypothesis that respiration was an ‘evolutionary driver’ of opisthopuby in all dinosaurs is overly simplistic. A critical assessment of datasets used to analyse the systematics of ornithischians (and thyreophoran subclades) has led to a revised dataset that positions Scelidosaurus as a stem ankylosaur, rather than a stem thyreophoran. The value of phylogenetic definitions is reconsidered in the light of the new thyreophoran cladogram.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	2020AREP; IA76
Subjects:	04 - Palaeobiology
Divisions:	04 - Palaeobiology 08 - Green Open Access
Journal or Publication Title:	Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Volume:	191
Page Range:	pp. 1-86
Depositing User:	Sarah Humbert
Date Deposited:	13 May 2020 15:53
Last Modified:	18 Aug 2021 00:01
URI:	http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/id/eprint/4740

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