Dinosaurs A to Z
Nodosauridae

Silvisaurus

Generic ankylosaur body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Silvisaurus 4 m (13.1 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ankylosaur body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Silvisaurus
Length
4 m (13.1 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (104–93.5 Mya)
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Nodosauridae Dinosauria Ornithischia Thyreophora Ankylosauria Ankylosaurs without the tail club.

Silvisaurus, from the Latin silva “woodland” and Greek sauros “lizard”, is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Early to Late Cretaceous period. It is the only known dinosaur species named from terrestrial deposits in Kansas and was designated the official state land fossil in 2023.

What we know

  • Named by Eaton, 1960.
  • Body length estimated at about 4 m.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Silvisaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.