Polacanthus

Polacanthus is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaurs from the early Cretaceous of England. Several species have been named in the genus Polacanthus, but only the type species, Polacanthus foxii, is currently seen as valid. There are not many fossil remains of this dinosaur, and some important anatomical features, such as its skull, are poorly known. It grew to about 4–5 metres (13–16 ft) long. Its body was covered with armour plates and spikes. It may be a basal member of the Nodosauridae or part of a separate family, the Polacanthidae.

Polacanthus

G. M. Woodward · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
NodosauridaePBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB, for Ornithischia
Life habit
ground dwelling, gregariousPBDB, for Ornithischia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ornithischia
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Ornithischia
Length
5 mWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 30 million years on record.

The record covers at least 137.05 Mya to 106.3 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 139.1 Mya to 100.5 Mya.

Early Cretaceous — about 16 of 16 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 0 of 16 occurrences140–139 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences139–137 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences137–136 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences136–135 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences135–133 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences133–132 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences132–131 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences131–129 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences129–128 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences128–126 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences126–125 Mya — about 1 occurrence125–124 Mya — about 2 occurrences124–122 Mya — about 2 occurrences122–121 Mya — about 2 occurrences121–120 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences120–118 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences118–117 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences117–116 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences116–114 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences114–113 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences106–105 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences105–104 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences104–102 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences102–101 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences101–100 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences137.05 Mya106.3 Mya139.9 Mya99.7 Mya

16 occurrences of Polacanthus on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

16 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

9 formations

Wessex — 50.62°N, 1.38°WWessex — 51.10°N, 0.45°WWessex — 50.65°N, 1.16°WWessex — 50.66°N, 1.48°WWessex — 50.67°N, 1.13°WVectis — 50.66°N, 1.47°WPinilla de los Moros — 42.02°N, 3.23°WFerruginous Sands — 50.60°N, 1.34°WArcillas de Morella — 40.49°N, 0.42°EPiedrahita de Muñó — 42.02°N, 3.23°WGolmayo — 41.77°N, 2.53°WWadhurst Clay — 51.86°N, 0.44°ETunbridge Wells Sand — 51.09°N, 0.17°W

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The named rock units Polacanthus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Polacanthus and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Polacanthus and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

49 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 16 sites for Polacanthus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

13 references

Each of the 16 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 1 further reference is not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Polacanthus

Credit
G. M. Woodward
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itNodosauridae through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Fox 1866