biology

Loricatosaurus

Loricatosaurus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Loricatosaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Loricatosaurus (meaning "armored lizard") is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur known from Callovian-aged (Middle Jurassic) rocks of England and France. Discovery and naming Loricatosaurus is known from remains previously assigned to Lexovisaurus that were first discovered at the Fletton brick pit in the Oxford Clay Formation, Fletton, Peterborough, England, by Alfred Leeds during November 1901.

Key takeaways

Loricatosaurus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Loricatosaurus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Loricatosaurus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Loricatosaurus (meaning "armored lizard") is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur known from Callovian-aged (Middle Jurassic) rocks of England and France.

Discovery and naming

Loricatosaurus is known from remains previously assigned to Lexovisaurus that were first discovered at the Fletton brick pit in the Oxford Clay Formation, Fletton, Peterborough, England, by Alfred Leeds during November 1901. Leeds collected a semi articulated skeleton consisting of two cervical, six dorsal, and 16 caudal vertebrae, a partial right forelimb, partial left hindlimb, partial pelves, and some fragmentary dermal armor. One piece of armor was described as a parascapular spine, but it is actually a fragmentary tail spine. In 1957, another specimen now referred to Loricatosaurus was briefly referred to Lexovisaurus until a more proper description was made in 1985 by Peter Galton. The specimen was a partial postcranial skeleton, including many vertebrae and a dorsal spine, from the Lower Callovian of Le Fresne d'Argences (Calvados), Normandy, France. The material was later named Stegosaurus priscus (“ancient roofed lizard”) by Baron Franz Nopcsa in 1911 and Lexovisaurus by Hoffstetter, 1957 and Peter Galton, 1985. However, upon later review of the material in 2008, Susannah Maidment and colleagues determined that Lexovisaurus was based upon nondiagnostic remains, and coined a new genus for Lexovisaurus priscus and its referred specimen. The genus name Loricatosaurus derives from the Latin "loricatus" (meaning armoured) and the Greek "sauros" (meaning lizard). It is known from only two partial skeletons. Contrary to previous reports (as Lexovisaurus), a shoulder spine is not present in the known material; the possible spine is more likely from the tail.

Description The holotype (NHMUK R3167) is a partial skeleton, including two cervical, six dorsal, and 16 caudal vertebrae, a right humerus and right ulna, some carpus, two metacarpals (one incomplete), a partial ilia, partial right ischium, and pubis, the left femur, partial tibia and fibula, fused tarsals, and some armour plates. This material now resides in the British Museum of Natural History's palaeontology collection. Another referred specimen (MHBR 001), from an unnamed unit referred to as the Marnes a Belemnopsis latesulcatus Formation from the lower Callovian, Middle Jurassic of Le Fresne d’Argences, Calvados, Normandy, France, includes neck, back and tail vertebrae, a left upper arm, right thigh, shin and calf, and some armour plates.

Classification Multiple phylogenetic analyses carried out by S. Maidment and O. Mateus between 2008 and 2010 place Loricatosaurus as a basal genus within the family Stegosauridae. A 2025 publication by Sánchez-Fenollosa & Cobos included Loricatosaurus in a phylogenetic analysis and recovered it as the sister taxon to an unnamed stegosaur from the Qigu Formation of China within the Stegosaurinae. These results are displayed in the cladogram below:

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Loricatosaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Loricatosaurus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Loricatosaurus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Loricatosaurus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Loricatosaurus

In research: Loricatosaurus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Loricatosaurus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Loricatosaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Callovian dinosaurs, Dinosaur genera, Dinosaurs of France, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Loricatosaurus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Loricatosaurus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Loricatosaurus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Loricatosaurus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Loricatosaurus in simple terms?

Loricatosaurus (meaning "armored lizard") is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur known from Callovian-aged (Middle Jurassic) rocks of England and France. Discovery and naming Loricatosaurus is known from remains previously assigned to Lexovisaurus that were first discovered at the Fletton brick pit in…

Why does Loricatosaurus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Loricatosaurus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Loricatosaurus.