page_title: Scutellosaurus
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Scutellosaurus / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: Scutellosaurus
context_page_description: Scutellosaurus is an extinct genus of thyreophoran ornithischian dinosaur that lived approximately 196 million years ago during the early part of the Jurassic Period in what is now Arizona, USA. It is classified in Thyreophora, the armoured dinosaurs; its closest relatives may have been Emausaurus and Scelidosaurus, another armored dinosaur which was mainly a quadrupedal dinosaur, unlike bipedal Scutellosaurus. It is one of the earliest representatives of the armored dinosaurs and the basalmost form discovered to date. Scutellosaurus was a small, lightly-built, ground-dwelling, herbivore, that could grow up to an estimated 1.2 m long.
context_section_description: The genus name Scutellosaurus means "little-shielded lizard", and is derived from the Latin word "scutellum" meaning "little shield", and the Greek word "sauros" (σαύρα) meaning "lizard". The type and only valid species known today is Scutellosaurus lawleri. The specific name honors David Lawler who collected the fossil.
caption: Restoration.
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