Fossil Facts > Scelidosaurus

The Early Jurassic rocks of Lyme Regis were deposited at the bottom on an ocean, meaning that most of the fossils found in this area are typically from sea creatures.

However, in 1859, a gentleman named James Harrison discovered the remains of a dinosaur. Named Scelidosaurus harrisoni by Richard Owen of the British Museum of Natural History, Scelidosaurus was a herbivorous dinosaur which walked on four legs (but perhaps could run on two) and was covered in bony, spikey armour called osteoderms. It represents one of the worlds oldest Thyreophoran dinosaurs, the armoured group of dinosaur, and potentially evolved over millions of years into some of the more famous dinosaurs, like ankylosaurs and stegosaurs.

Fossils of Scelidosaurus can be seen in our museum geology gallery, including some of the original fossils used by Richard Owens to described this dinosaur. In addition we also have James Harrisons’ personal copy of this scientific paper which was given to him by Richard Owen.