Fun Euoplocephalus Facts For Kids

The Euoplocephalus tutus is a herbivorous dinosaur that belongs to the genus of Ankylosaurian dinosaurs. They lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 76-70 million years ago in Canada.

The initial fossil of this species was discovered in Alberta in the year 1897 by Lawrence Morris Lambe. It was excavated near the present-day Dinosaur Provincial Park in the valley of the Red Deer in Alberta, Canada.

In 1902, a holotype was created, which constituted the upper part of a cranium and a transverse series of five scutes that were part of a cervical half ring. After prolonged research, it was named the Stereocephalus in the year 1902, but it was discovered soon after that the name had already been assigned to an insect.

The name was therefore changed later. The generic name that was given to the dinosaur at first meant formidable armor, where 'stereos' meant solid and 'kephale' meant to head.

After this, the name was changed to Euoplocephalus tutus, while Stereocephalus tutus remained as the type species.

Edwin Hennig classified this species under the genus Palaeoscincus, which is a dubious specimen of the Ankylosaurus dinosaur. Now, however, this is seen as a nomen dubium and isn't used anymore.

The genus name Euoplocephalus can be broken down into 'eu' meaning well, 'hoplo' meaning armed, and 'kephale' meaning head, which translates to well-armored head. The specific name tutus means safely protected in the Latin language.

A lot of fossil specimens were discovered that belonged to Ankylosaurid dinosaurs after this near North America, and were often submitted to different genera. Walter Coombs, after his research, concluded that all remains found belonged to the Euoplocephalus, but recently this has been countered, and fossils have been limited to the Euoplocephalus.

Even though dozens of remains constitute almost a whole skeleton, very little is known about the structure of the dinosaur. The skeletal body of these animals is kept in the American Museum of Natural history.

Scroll down to read about the Euoplocephalus tutus' life, what they fed on, their habits, and other exciting details! If you want to discover more like the Euoplocephalus, take a look at some Metriorhynchus and Incisivosaurus facts.

Euoplocephalus Interesting Facts

How do you pronounce 'Euoplocephalus'?

The Euoplocephalus pronunciation is somewhat difficult but can be pronounced as 'you-oh-plo-kef-ah-luss'.

What type of dinosaur was a Euoplocephalus?

The Euoplocephalus tutus is a herbivorous dinosaur that belongs to the genus of Ankylosaurian dinosaurs. This dinosaur species is called the well-armored head.

In which geological period did the Euoplocephalus roam the Earth?

It lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 76-70 million years ago, in Canada.

When did the Euoplocephalus become extinct?

Dinosaurs, in general, went extinct almost 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period after living on the Earth for about 165 million years. But this species existed about 76-70 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period.

Where did a Euoplocephalus live?

The Euoplocephalus was a herbivore and therefore the Euoplocephalus habitat was areas with forests or dense vegetation. These medium-sized dinosaurs weren't tall and therefore chose areas that had smaller trees and bushes so that they could reach a food source.

What was a Euoplocephalus's habitat?

The habitat of a Euoplocephalus was in areas in present-day Canada and USA. The very first fossil of this species was found in Alberta in the year 1897 by Lawrence Morris Lambe. It was excavated from the present-day Dinosaur Provincial Park, in the valley of the Red Deer in Alberta, Canada.

Who did a Euoplocephalus live with?

Fossil evidence points out from both the bone bed and trackways that Sauropods were gregarious animals who lived and moved in herds. Mostly all herbivorous dinosaurs stayed in herds to protect themselves from predators.

How long did a Euoplocephalus live?

There isn't a definite time frame of the life span, but it has been estimated that they lived for almost 60-75 years like other Ankylosaurids.

How did they reproduce?

Ankylosaurids, much like other reptiles, mated with each other during the breeding season, and in the case of this breed, the female dinosaur laid eggs. Eggs hatched after a certain period of time, and newborn dinosaurs came out. Adult dinosaurs took care of newborns until they could move with their parents or go along with their new family.

Euoplocephalus Fun Facts

What did a Euoplocephalus look like?

The Euoplocephalus appearance was quite large compared to other Anklosaurids, and only the Ankylosaurus and the Tarchia exceeded it in size. The Euoplocephalus had a wide and flat torso, and it was also quadrupedal.

The Euoplocephalus skull was easier to distinguish from skulls of other Ankylosaurids because of bones in the area to the fore of the eyes and smaller bony plates above the eyes. These smaller bones may have been bony eyelids.

It also had a shallow, nasal passage at the front of the nose cavity. There was a bend in the tooth of the top jaw.

Teeth that were smaller lacked cingulum, which made researchers assume that they had different denticles at the same time. However, these features are shared by some closely related species, and combining these forms, Coombs and Maryanska stated that the Euoplocephalus dinosaur could be differentiated depending on some characteristics.

The Euoplocephalus head, when looked at from above, looked almost like an equilateral triangle, and the Euoplocephalus skull was wider rather than being long like skulls of other dinosaurs. The front of the snout was toothless, and cheek teeth at the back in lower jaws were very small.

The neck was moderately short, and the scapula was massive and thick, and extremely rough front limbs were shorter in length than dorsal limbs. The tail was long and weighted and ended with a tail club.

The narrow shape of a tail club was formed due to stiffened bundles of tendons. Nopsca made the mistake of using a tail that was incomplete and placed it above the conical spikes.

It was later placed in correctly, starting from halfway the body length. Nopsca, later on, reinstated the tail because it was just the end portion that followed the spines.

How many bones did a Euoplocephalus have?

The Euoplocephalus skeleton had a vertebrae column, or spine, which comprised seven cervical vertebrae, and at least 11 vertebrae at the back. There was a minimum of 21 caudal vertebrae, and in total, after fusing at the tail club, it came to a total of 30.

The humerus was very thick and extended to the joints, and was attached to a narrow shaft.

The head and body of Euoplocephalus specimens were protected with bony armor, except limbs and the tail. The armor of the specimen consisted of osteoderms, which were skin ossifications and were not originally part of the skeleton.

How did they communicate?

There is no specific mention of how they communicated, but they definitely didn't have modern means of communication. Like any other animal, dinosaurs communicated by making sounds and using their body language. They might have included hoots and hollers to communicate as well.

How big was a Euoplocephalus?

The Euoplocephalus size was about 216 in (5.5 m) in length and 48 in (1.2 m) in height. This made it four times longer than the Asiatic black bear which is 55- 75 in (1.4- 1.9 m) in length and about two times smaller in height as the latter is 60-66 in (1.5- 1.7 m) in height.

How fast could a Euoplocephalus move?

Being quadrupedal, this species was quite fast, not nearly as fast as predators but enough to move around quickly.

How much did a Euoplocephalus weigh?

The Euoplocephalus dinosaur was about 5,511.6 lb (2,500 kg) in weight. The present-day bison is about 899.5-2,800 lb (408-1270 kg) in weight, which makes the dinosaur about four times heavier than the bison.

What were the male and female names of the species?

There is no specific name for male or female dinosaurs of this species and they are commonly known as the Euoplocephalus, also known as the tank dinosaur and well-armored head. Search for more fossils is still going on, and only after the complete discovery of significant fossils can sexes of this dinosaur be differentiated.

What would you call a baby Euoplocephalus?

The newborn dinosaur is known as a hatchling or a nestling. This was common for most dinosaur species. There is no specific information on names of newborns for this dinosaur as of now.

What did they eat?

The Euoplocephalus food consisted of plants and fruits found in jungles and woodlands. They weren't tall and therefore chose areas that had smaller plants and bushes so that they could reach their food source. They consumed food like small plants and plant material using their snout-shaped mouth like the Kentrosaurus.

How aggressive were they?

Based on research, dinosaurs are divided into two groups: Sauropods were herbivores and didn't attack each other or other dinosaurs, and Theropods were meat-eaters and attacked each other and other dinosaurs as well. This species, being a Sauropod, was quite friendly and wasn't aggressive at all.

It stayed together in harmony with other Sauropod dinosaurs. The Euoplocephalus's tail club could be used to attack predators, and its armor kept it safe from most predators.

Did you know...

Arbor and Currie in 2013 gave a different diagnosis on this species stating that the dinosaur Euoplocephalus was quite different from its relatives. When it was compared with other armored dinosaurs, it lacked round osteoderms at the base of the upper and lower horns.

The Euoplocephalus differed from Ankylosaurs as it lacked external nostrils and a continuous ridge between the thin, scale-like bony horn situated on the side of the skull above and behind the ear and above the orbit of the eye.

How many toes did the Euoplocephalus have?

The Euoplocephalus had three digits on its foot and had metatarsal bones with toes.

How can scientists know the Euoplocephalus was a herbivore?

Lower jaws had a very bent upper rim with 21 teeth and a short extension was present to connect with the bony structure of the lower beak that fitted within the top beak of the snout.

The snout bone at the front was toothless, and cheek teeth at the back in lower jaws were quite small, with a maximal height.

This snout feature made researchers realize that this species was herbivorous.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Harpactognathus facts or Tupuxuara facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable dinosaur color by numbers coloring pages.

Main image by Nobu Tamura

Second image by Ghedoghedo