Polacanthus

many spines (many thorns)

• poly- (pola-) · Greek · many
• akantha · Greek · thorn, spine

The name combines the Greek words for "many" and "thorn" or "spine". It refers to the armour of this plated, spiky herbivore, which had spines along its neck, shoulders and flanks and a large sheet of fused bone over its hips. The type species is Polacanthus foxii, named for the Reverend William Fox, who collected the first specimens on the Isle of Wight.

Named by

Hulke

Year named

1881

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Barremian

Found in

Wessex Formation, Isle of Wight, England, UK

Valid genus of armoured dinosaur (Ankylosauria). The type species is P. foxii. Another English species once assigned to it, P. rudgwickensis, was later moved to its own genus, Horshamosaurus. Its close relationship to Hylaeosaurus has been much discussed.