Name:
Minmi (after Minmi Crossing in Australia); pronounced MIN-mee
Habitat:
Woodlands of Australia
Historical Period:
Early Cretaceous (120-115 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 10 feet long; weight unknown
Diet:
Plants
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Unusually small brain; primitive armor on back and belly
About Minmi:
Minmi appears to have been an unusually small, and unusually primitive, ankylosaur (armored dinosaur). This herbivore's armor was rudimentary compared to later genuses, including horizontal bony plates running along the sides of its backbone, a noticeable thickening on its belly, and spiky protrusions on its long tail.
Minmi also had a small, narrow head, which has led some paleontologists to conclude that its encephalization quotient (the comparative size of its brain and its body) was lower than that of other dinosaurs of its time. Considering how stupid the average herbivore was, that's not much of a compliment!
