Nodosauridae
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Nodosauridae (Marsh, 1890) is a family of the ankylosaurian dinosaurs. Nodosauridae is defined as all ankylosaurs closer to Panoplosaurus than to Ankylosaurus (Vickaryous et al., 2004). Those authors consider the most primitive member of the Nodosauridae to be the Cedarpelta, from the Early Cretaceous Period of what are now North America, Asia, Australia, Antarctica and Europe.
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[edit] Characteristics
Diagnostic characteristics for the Nodosauridae include the following: supraorbital boss rounded protuberance, occipital condyle derived from only the basioccipital and ornamentation present on the premaxilla. There is a fourth ambiguous character: the acromion is a knob-like process. All nodosaurids, like other ankylosaurs, may be described as medium-sized to large, heavily-built quadrapedal herbivorous dinosaurs, possessing small denticulate teeth and parasagittal rows of osteoderms (a type of armour) on the dorsolateral surfaces of the body.
[edit] Genera and Taxonomy
Taxa presently referred to the Nodosauridae include Cedarpelta (Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah; Berriasian-Hauterivian); Pawpawsaurus (Paw Paw Formation of Texas; late Albian); Sauropelta (Cloverly Formation of Wyoming and Montana; late Aptian); Silvisaurus (Dakota Formation of Kansas; late Aptian-early Cenomanian); Hungarosaurus (Csehbánya Formation of Hungary; Santonian); Panoplosaurus (Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada; late Campanian); Edmontonia (Judith River Formation of Montana, Lance Formation of South Dakota, Dinosaur Park Formation, Horseshoe Canyon Formation, and St. Mary River Formation of Alberta; late Campanian-Maastrichtian).
Vickaryous, Maryanska, and Weishampel (2004) consider two genera Nodosauridae to be incertae sedis: Struthiosaurus (Gosau Formation of Austria, an unnamed unit of France and Sânpetru Formation of Romania; Campanian - late Maastrichtian) and Animantarx (Upper Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah; early Cenomanian).
[edit] List of genera
- Infraorder Ankylosauria
- Antarctopelta (Antarctica)
- Cedarpelta (Utah, Western North America)
- Minmi (Queensland, Australia)
- Family Ankylosauridae
- FAMILY NODOSAURIDAE
- Acanthopholis (United Kingdom, Western Europe)
- Animantarx (Utah, Western North America)
- Anoplosaurus (England, Northwestern Europe)
- Edmontonia (Alberta, Western North America)
- Hungarosaurus (Hungary, Central-Southern Europe)
- Liaoningosaurus (Liaoning Province, Northeastern China)
- Niobrarasaurus (Kansas, Western North America)
- Nodosaurus (Wyoming and Kansas, Western North America)
- Panoplosaurus (Montana & Alberta, Western North America)
- Pawpawsaurus (Texas, Western North America)
- Sauropelta (Wyoming and Montana, Western North America)
- Silvisaurus (Kansas, Western North America)
- Stegopelta (Wyoming, Western North America)
- Struthiosaurus (Central-Southern Europe)
- Texasetes (Texas, Western North America)
[edit] References
- Carpenter, K. (2001). "Phylogenetic analysis of the Ankylosauria." In Carpenter, K., (ed.) 2001: The Armored Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis, 2001, pp. xv-526
- Osi, Attila (2005). Hungarosaurus tormai, a new ankylosaur (Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Hungary. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(2):370-383, June 2003.
- Vickaryous, M. K., Maryanska, T., and Weishampel, D. B. (2004). Chapter Seventeen: Ankylosauria. in The Dinosauria (2nd edition), Weishampel, D. B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H., editors. University of California Press.
