Name:
Lexovisaurus (Greek for "Lexovii lizard"); pronounced lex-OH-vih-SORE-us
Habitat:
Woodlands of western Europe
Historical Period:
Late Jurassic (160 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 15 feet long and half a ton
Diet:
Plants
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Medium size; plates and spines along back
About Lexovisaurus:
Lexovisaurus (which is named after the Lexovii, an ancient tribe from western Europe) is one of those stegosaurs that hasn't yet been nailed down, genus-wise. It was originally classified as a species of Dacentrurus, then reassigned to its own genus, though some remains have been assigned to the even more shaky Loricatosaurus. Whatever the case, this appears to have been one of the earliest European stegosaurs, a medium-sized herbivore that browsed the low-lying vegetation of modern-day France and England.
