Hypsilophodon foxii
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foxii
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(hip-sill-off-oh-don)
"high-crested tooth"
Describer Huxley, 1869
Also Known As --
Type of Species foxii
Order Ornithischia
SubOrder Cerapoda
InfraOrder Ornithopoda
Micro-Order --
Family Hypsilophodontidae
Size 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) long
Period Early Cretaceous, 115 million years ago
Fossilsite England, Spain, Portugal
Diet Herbivore
Hypsilophodon
lived during the Early Cretaceous Period, about 115 million years ago.
Fossils from this dinosaur have been discovered in England, Spain, and
Portugal. Hypsilophodon is one of the most famous of small dinosaurs,
Hypsilophodon was was also one of the earliest to be studied.
It was discovered in the Wealden rocks in southern England, in 1849. This area had yielded fossils of the ornithopod Iguanodon 20 years earlier. Hypsilophodon is described as an agile animal that its primary way of locomotion was with its hindlimbs. This was a surprising view, since most paleontologist at the time considered dinosaurs to move about on all fours.
Hypsilophodon had long legs, suited for running at high speeds. Hypsilophodon tail was long and was held above the ground, it help to counterbalance the weight of its body.
Hypsilophodon teeth and jaws were well adapted for grinding the tough plant material. It had a fleshy cheek that allowed it to hold food before it was chewed. Ornithopods were the first plant-eating dinosaurs to have true chewing teeth, and also the first with cheek pouches.
