Dinosaurs A to Z
Thescelosauridae

Thescelosaurus thesihluh-SORRUHS

Generic ornithopod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Thescelosaurus 4 m (13.1 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic ornithopod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Thescelosaurus
Length
4 m (13.1 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (69.42–66.04 Mya)
Place
North America · Alberta, Canada · Saskatchewan, Canada · Montana, USA
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Thescelosauridae
Thescelosaurus reconstruction by Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com)
Reconstruction · Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) (CC-BY)

Thescelosaurus ( ) is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in western North America. It was named and described in 1913 by the paleontologist Charles W. Gilmore; the type species is T. neglectus. Two other species, T. garbanii and T. assiniboiensis, were named in 1976 and 2011, respectively. Additional species have been suggested but are currently not accepted. Thescelosaurus is the eponymous member of its family, the Thescelosauridae. Thescelosaurids are either considered to be basal (“primitive”) ornithopods, or are placed outside of this group within the broader group Neornithischia.

Adult Thescelosaurus would have measured roughly 3-4 long and probably weighed 200 – 300 kg. It moved on two legs, and its body was counter-balanced by its long tail, which made up half of the body length and was stiffened by rod-like ossified tendons.

What we know

  • Named by Gilmore, 1913.
  • Body length estimated at about 4 m.
  • Fossils found in North America and Alberta, Canada.

What we guess

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