Hypsilophodon
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Hypsilophodon was one of the first discovered non-avian dinosaurs, with its remains first being dug up in 1849. Dinosaurs this old tend to be subject to several inaccurate theories. The most priminent for Hypsilophodon probably being the idea that it lived in trees, like tree-kangaroos. Needless to say, this is highly unlikely. Hypsilophodon is the archetypal small ornithischian - a small, fast bipedal forest-dwelling herbivore. It's lightweight and stiff-tailed, and a good runner. Its tail is stiffened by ossified tendons. Its skull is relative large and filled with small leaf-shaped teeth. Like several other ornithischians, in between its ribs are cartaliginous intercostal plates. We have a flock of Hypsilophodon in the Mesozoic Europe section. The group is closely-knit and mostly harmonious, except in the breeding season, when males go at each other with "rushing" displays. They're very skittish - one alarm call and they all go darting into the nearest plant. |
Scientific name Location Time Length Diet |