Hypsilophodon
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.
Article
9 sectionsContents
- 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.