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Hypsilophodon
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Hypsilophodon

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Hypsilophodon (; meaning "high-crested tooth") is a neornithischian dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of England. It has traditionally been considered an early member of the group Ornithopoda, but recent research has put this into question.

Wikidata facts

Parent taxon
Hypsilophodontidae
Image
Hypsilophodon foxii 1.jpg
Length
2.3
Show 6 more facts
taxon rank
genus
taxon name
Hypsilophodon
Commons category
Hypsilophodon
time period
Early Cretaceous
location of discovery
England
main food source
herbivore
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~21 min read

Encyclopedic overview

9 sections
Contents
  • Discovery and history
  • First specimens and the debate of distinctiveness
  • Later research
  • Description
  • Cranial anatomy
  • Postcranial anatomy
  • Phylogeny
  • Paleobiology
  • Bibliography

Hypsilophodon (; meaning "high-crested tooth") is a neornithischian dinosaur genus from the Early Cretaceous period of England. It has traditionally been considered an early member of the group Ornithopoda, but recent research has put this into question.

The first remains of Hypsilophodon were found in 1849; the type species, Hypsilophodon foxii, was named in 1869. Abundant fossil discoveries were made on the Isle of Wight, giving a good impression of the build of the species. It was a small, agile bipedal herbivore, measuring long and weighing . It had a pointed head equipped with a sharp beak used to bite off plant material, much like modern-day parrots.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Hypsilophodon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (22)