#hippodraco

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Hippodraco scutodens

By José Carlos Cortés on @ryuukibart​

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Name: Hippodraco scutodens

Name Meaning: Horse Dragon

First Described: 2010

Described By: McDonald et al. 

Classification: Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Genasauria, Neornithischia, Cerapoda, Ornithopoda, Iguanodontia, Dryomorpha, Ankylopollexia, Styracosterna

Hippodraco is another Styracosternan, specifically from the Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah. It lived about 124 million years ago, in the Barremian to Aptian ages of the Early Cretaceous. It is known from a nearly complete skull and some skeletal material, and it would have been a relatively average Styracosternan. It probably mainly walked on two legs, but could use its forelimbs for support and locomotion when necessary. 

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippodraco

Shout out goes to @zoology-bro!

[saddinosaurfacts]

HIPPODRACO “Horse dragon” Early Cretaceous, 125 million years ago

Hippodraco was a basal Iguanodontian that lived in what is now the American West. Its name means “horse dragon,” and blessedly has nothing to do with Buckbeak/Malfoy slash fiction.

[noasaurus-blog]

Dinosaur Death Trap Found in Utah May Contain Raptor Family, 'Horse Dragons,' Cannibalized Baby

MOAB, UTAH -- A pack of ravenous but hopelessly trapped Utahraptors, a pair of besieged "horse dragons," and even a cannibalized baby are among the victims that Utah's state paleontologist sees imm...

Ooooh!

[alphynix]

H is for Hippodraco

Hippodraco scutodens was an iguanodontian dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah, USA, about 124 million years ago. It was on the smaller side for iguanodonts, being "just" 4.5m long (15ft), roughly the size of a modern rhinoceros. Its genus name translates to "horse dragon", based on its long vaguely horse-like skull.

Iguanodonts, including the eponymous Iguanodon, were one of the first groups of dinosaurs to be found and described in the early 1800s. Some of the members of the group are among the most diverse and successful Cretaceous herbivores, and are some of the most recognizable dinosaurs -- especially the later crested varieties of hadrosaurids.

Iguanodon and its close relatives had unusual five-fingered hands, with a huge thumb spike, three hoofed fingers, and a grasping thumb-like fifth digit. The thumb claw is often portrayed as a stiletto-like defensive weapon, but its actual function is still unknown.

These dinosaurs are thought to have walked around mainly on all fours, switching to a bipedal stance when they needed to move faster, or when using their opposable pinkies to grasp vegetation during feeding.