A new specimen of the thyreophoran dinosaur cf. Scelidosaurus with soft tissue preservation

Abstract

A new specimen, comprising eight articulated caudal vertebrae in a cut slab of blue/grey carbonate mudstone, is comparable to the early thyreophoran dinosaur Scelidosaurus harrisonii Owen from the English Lower Jurassic. Palynological analysis indicates that the specimen is probably late Hettangian-Sinemurian (Early Jurassic), but the exact horizon and locality remain uncertain. The slab has been cut longitudinally in a parasagittal plane along the vertebral series and exposes several articulated centra, haemal arches, neural arches and osteoderms. An envelope of preserved soft tissue wraps around the vertebrae and includes osteoderms with organic material on both the upper and lower surfaces. Basal thyreophoran dinosaur osteoderms were covered by a horny sheath during life.