Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History

Dinosaurs in Literature, Art & History... Page 77

Did Nodosaurus Really Become Extinct Between 63 Million and 95 Million Years Ago-Or Did He Live in The Recent Past?

In this section we've already identified a number of Ankylosaur dinosaurs in ancient art. A Nodosaurus is basically an anklyosaur without the club tail. In fact, our prior "identifications" of ankylosaur could more specifically be seen as representations of some Nodosauridae

, which as far as I can tell could be nothing more than the female version of the anklyosaur.

Ancient art from "ancient Africa", from the 1972 book cleverly entitled "African Art". This is a couplet. The animal on top is a common motif and is often depicted with the backwards horn creature on top and another creature on the bottom. (Another couplet example is pictured on the left)In this case the creaature on the bottom is obviously a ankylosaur, specifcally a non-clubbed tailed type like nodosaurus.

Nodosaurus

"Nodosaurus ("knobbed lizard") was a herbivorous dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous, the fossils of which are found in North America. Two incomplete specimens have been discovered in Wyoming and Kansas, and no skulls. One of the first armored dinosaurs to be discovered in North America, Nodosaurus was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1889.
This nodosaurid ankylosaur was about 13 to 20 feet (four to six meters) long. It was an ornithischian dinosaur with bony dermal plates covering the top of its body. It may have had spikes along its side as well. It had four short legs, five-toed feet, a short neck, and a long, stiff, clubless tail. The head was narrow, with a pointed snout, powerful jaws, and small teeth. It perhaps ate soft plants, as it would be unable to chew tough, fibrous ones; or alternatively it processed the latter by gastroliths and its enormous intestinal apparatus.
It is thought that without a club on its tail, Nodosaurus was left without much in terms of defense. When threatened, it probably dropped to the ground so that only its armored back and sides were exposed, much like modern-day hedgehogs.

Ancient African couplet.

Various nodosaur scutes found in the Eastern US have a good chance of being identified as, and probably are, scutes of the genus Nodosaurus.
...Wikipedia

Ancient African Nodosaurus in the middle. Comparison with modern interpretations of Nodosaurus.

When Nodosaurus Lived:
Nodosaurus lived during the early Cretaceous period, about 113-98 million years ago.
Diet:
Nodosaurus was an herbivore (a plant-eater). It ate low-lying plants, like ferns and cycads, with its leaf-shaped teeth.
Anatomy:
This nodosaurid (with no tail club) ankylosaur was about 13 to 20 ft (4-6 m) long. It was an ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaur with bony dermal plates covering the top of its body. It had four short legs, five-toed feet, a short neck, and a long, clubless tail. The narrow head had a pointed snout and powerful jaws. It may have had spikes along its sides, but only incomplete fossils have been found, so this is not certain.
Name:
Nodosaurus means "knobby or node lizard." It was named by paleontologist Othniel C. Marsh in 1889. The type species is N. textilis.
Fossils: Three very incomplete Nodosaurus fossils have been found in Wyoming and Kansas; no skulls have been found yet. ....Enchanted Learning.com

Comparison of non-club tailed, African nodosaurus depiction with a club tailed ankylosaur..