Loricatosaurus Pronunciation

Fun Facts

• ✓Loricatosaurus was formally named in 2007 by paleontologist Paul Barrett, who realized bones originally assigned to Lexovisaurus actually belonged to two different dinosaurs — Loricatosaurus was hiding inside the wrong label for decades.
• ✓The Oxford Clay Formation where Loricatosaurus fossils were found also preserves giant marine reptiles like Leedsichthys, the largest fish ever known, meaning Loricatosaurus lived next to one of the most monstrous ocean creatures in history.
• ✓Loricatosaurus lived during the Callovian stage of the Jurassic, precisely 161.5 million years ago, making it one of the earliest well-documented members of the stegosaurid family tree.
• ✓England and France were not connected land masses during the Callovian — they were separated by warm, shallow seas, which means Loricatosaurus populations on each side may have evolved slightly differently from one another.
• ✓The name 'loricatus' comes from the Roman word for the segmented metal armor called a lorica, the same kind worn by Roman legionaries — so this dinosaur is literally named after soldier armor.