Scelidosaurus

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Pronounced – Skelll-id-oh-saw-rus
Meaning of name – ‘Limb-lizard’
Group – Dinosaur, Reptile
Age – Lower Jurassic, around 195 million years old

Scelidosaurus is the best preserved and most complete dinosaur found so far in Britain. It is only found here at Charmouth and nowhere else in the world. It was a heavily armoured plant eating dinosaur, which was related to ankylosaurs and stegosaurs and lived near the ancient shores of what is now ‘England’.

Scientists think that a herd of these dinosaurs were washed out to sea and drowned. The Centre has a life size cast of the most complete Scelidosaur found to date and new display all about these amazing dinosaurs.

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Scelidosaurus head

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Scelidosaurs used their primitive teeth to graze on low, shrub-like plants such as small conifers and ferns. They would then have used a simple up-and-down jaw movement to mash the vegetation before swallowing.