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About Scutellosaurus:
One of the persistent themes of evolution is that large, imposing creatures descend from small, mouselike progenitors. Although no one would think of comparing Scutellosaurus to a mouse (it weighed about 25 pounds, for instance, and was covered with bony spikes), this dinosaur was certainly rodent-sized compared to its armored descendants of the late Cretaceous period, such as Ankylosaurus and Euoplocephalus.
Although its hind limbs were longer than its forelimbs, paleontologists think Scutellosaurus was ambidextrous, posture-wise: it probably stayed on all fours while eating, but broke into a two-legged gait when escaping predators. Like other early dinosaurs, it was similar to the prosauropods and small theropods that roamed the earth during the late Triassic and early Jurassic periods.
