Paralell-Vertebrae Minmi

  Minmi paravertebrata

(Molnar, 1980)

    Minmi paravertebrata, a medium-sized low browser of Early Cretaceous Australia, is lightly built for an ankylosaur, with only a few hand-sized scutes along its neck and tail and an array of longer spines splayed out from its hips.  Other smaller plates are arrayed along the torso and legs, but the majority of M. paravertebrata's armor consists of tiny scutes, covering the entire body including the belly. It is this mail of bone, not the more decorative plates, that serve as the bulk of  M. paravertebrata's defenses.  This relatively light and unobtrusive armor also allows this rather small ankylosaur to evade danger by running, a strategy unavailable to the larger ankylosaurs.

Other sites containing pertinent information:

• T. Mike Keesey's Minmi page.
• Øyvind M. Padron's Minmi skeletal reconstruction.
• Dino-Nakasato Minmi

© Daniel Bensen 2004
Back to OPUS: Dinosaur
This image modified by Adobe Photoshop.