Minmi – An Australian Armoured Dinosaur with Attitude

We have been busy today getting our fact sheet on the armoured dinosaur Minmi (M. paravertebra) approved so that we can send it out with CollectA models of this dinosaur.  It seems that this dinosaur has a lot of fans, and not just Australians, it seems to be a very popular member of the Ornithischia.

Armoured Dinosaur Minmi

The first fossils of this armoured dinosaur were found in the mid 1960s, in Queensland.  Since then a number of specimens have been found including an almost complete skeleton which was discovered in marine sediments indicating that the corpse of this dinosaur had been swept out to sea.  Most of the body was preserved but parts of the legs were missing, perhaps scavenged by a marine reptile or a shark whilst the corpse was still afloat.  Minmi had relatively long legs, hexagonal shaped armour plating on its underside and rows of scutes and osteoderms (body armour) running in lines from its head down to its tail.  A series of small spikes projected outwards from the hips and there was a pair of prominent triangular bony structures that pointed outwards from the back of the skull.  The armour would have offered some protection, but this dinosaur may also have been able to run away from any potential attackers.

Everything Dinosaur’s Illustration of Minmi

An Aussie armoured dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

This fact sheet has been produced to accompany sales of the Minmi model (CollectA series).  To view the extensive range of CollectA dinosaur models available from Everything Dinosaur: CollectA Prehistoric Life Models (Age of Dinosaurs).

It is always interesting to hear from customers and dinosaur fans in general and we have fielded a number of questions about this dinosaur over the last couple of years or so.  It seems armoured dinosaurs that come from Australia have lots of fans!

A spokesperson from Everything Dinosaur confirmed that the CollectA Prehistoric Life Minmi armoured dinosaur figure was a popular model amongst dinosaur model collectors.