A new specimen of the thyreophoran dinosaur cf. Scelidosaurus with soft tissue preservation

A new specimen, comprising eight articulated caudal vertebrae in a cut slab of blue/grey carbonate mudstone, is comparable to the early thyreophoran d inosaur Scelidosaurus harrisonii Owen from the English Lower Jurassic. Paly nological analysis indicates that the specimen is probably late Hettangian- Sinemurian (Early Jurassic), but the exact horizon and locality remain unce rtain. The slab has been cut longitudinally in a parasagittal plane along t he vertebral series and exposes several articulated centra, haemal arches, neural arches and osteoderms. An envelope of preserved soft tissue wraps ar ound the vertebrae and includes osteoderms with organic material on both th e upper and lower surfaces. Basal thyreophoran dinosaur osteoderms were cov ered by a horny sheath during life.