5.1" Fossil Nodosaurid (Denversaurus?) Dinosaur Scute - South Dakota

Fossil Nodosaurid (Denversaurus?) Dinosaur Scute - South Dakota #264943

This is a nodosaur scute (armor plate - osteoderm) that was collected from the Hell Creek Formation on a private lease in Harding County, South Dakota. It measures 5.1" wide and is accompanied by an acrylic display stand for presentation.

The most common nodosaurid known from the Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota is Denversaurus schlessmani. In most cases, identifying species by an isolated scute can be more guess work than anything. So while we aren't certain this scute comes from Denversaurus schlessmani, it's very likely.

There is a glue stabilized fracture along the dorsal surface of the scute.

Denversaurus was a panoplosaurin nodosaurid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous, approximately 66 million years ago. Denversaurus was an herbivore like other nodosaurids/ankylosaurids, and measured approximately 20 feet (6 meters) on average. It lived in North America in the midwest alongside more well-known contemporaries such as Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and Pachycephalosaurus. Like other nodosaurids/ankylosaurids, it had an armored carapace made up of bony scutes all along the dorsal surface of its body.

Because of its age and sedimentary composition, the Hell Creek Formation has become one of the most paleontologically studied areas in the world. 158 genera of animals and 64 genera of plants are known from the formation and new discoveries are made frequently. In addition to Tyrannosaurs, Ceratopsids, and Hadrosaurs, the formation has yielded remains of amphibians, reptiles, lizards, snakes and turtles, fish and sharks, avian and non-avian dinosaurs, and mammals. The Hell Creek Formation gives the most complete understanding of the environment just before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction.

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