Jurassic Dinos editorial · Updated · Source-based review
What was Hippodraco?
Hippodraco was an iguanodontian plant eater from Early Cretaceous Utah. Its name means horse dragon, referring to the elongated skull. It was a dinosaur, not a horse relative or a fire-breathing animal.
What makes the fossil distinctive?
The partial skeleton preserves a skull, teeth and parts of the limbs and backbone. The lower-jaw teeth have shield-shaped crowns, which inspired the species name scutodens. Tooth shape provides a concrete anatomical feature to examine rather than relying only on the imaginative genus name.
Where was it found and how was it named?
The fossil was discovered in 2004 and formally named in 2010. It comes from the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation. The known individual was immature, a fact that matters when estimating adult size and comparing skull proportions.
What can we infer, and what remains uncertain?
Large eye openings and other juvenile features can make a young animal look different from a mature one. A small fossil should not automatically be presented as the maximum size of the genus. Comparisons with Iguanodon and Mantellisaurus help explain the broad body plan, but they cannot fill every missing measurement with certainty.
Was Hippodraco necessarily a tiny adult dinosaur?
No. The known individual was immature, so its size does not establish the maximum adult size of the genus.
How can you check the evidence?
The Paleobiology Database record catalogues Hippodraco under Styracosterna. Its linked bibliography identifies this research starting point: A. T. McDonald, J. I. Kirkland, and D. D. DeBlieux, S. K. Madsen, J. Cavin, A. R. C. Milner, L. Panzarin. 2010. New basal iguanodonts from the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah and the evolution of thumb-spiked dinosaurs. PLoS One 5(11):e14075:1-35. Open the bibliographic record. A catalogue entry establishes the source trail; it does not independently verify every later illustration or behavioural claim.
Use the dated genus overview to follow the references behind the discovery and anatomy discussed above. When sources disagree, compare which specimen and rock layer each author studied. A reconstructed whole animal can combine original bones with comparisons to relatives; those two kinds of evidence should not be confused. The account above explains the particular limits that matter for Hippodraco, rather than supplying unsupported size, speed or lifespan figures.
Read the image and keep exploring
The Hippodraco silhouette places known bones within a reconstructed body, illustrating the gaps in this immature specimen. This diagram explains the stated evidence; schematic elements are not additional fossil observations.
Compare Iguanodon, Mantellisaurus, Hypsilophodon. Find more names in the H index and explore ornithischian field notes. The glossary explains unfamiliar fossil terms.
Quick answers
- Where have Hippodraco fossils been found?
- The discoveries discussed here come from United States. Modern place names describe discovery locations, not a complete ancient geographic range.
- When did Hippodraco live?
- It is placed in the Cretaceous period. See the discovery discussion for qualifications about the particular rock layers and dating.
- Where can I compare Hippodraco with related dinosaurs?
- Follow the related field notes below. Comparisons explain shared anatomy; they do not imply that all the animals lived together.
