Minmi  was a dinosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous period. It was an ankylosaur dinosaur that looked similar to the dinosaurs in the picture above.

Minmi had an interesting way of protecting itself. It had some extra bones along its backbone. These allowed its back to be stronger so that it could run well. The extra bones also supported a lot of bony lumps along its back. These lumps were called scutes and you can see them in the picture.

Minmi was different from other ankylosaurs because it had lumps on its stomach and chest as well as having sharper scutes along its tail. The scutes made the Minmi's skin very tough so it was hard for meat eating dinosaurs to break its skin.

The first Minmi fossils were found near the Queensland town of Roma in 1964. Since then, several other Minmi have been found in Queensland. These dinosaurs are the most complete dinosaurs ever found in Australia.

Minmi was not a large dinosaur. It grew to about three metres long and a metre wide. Because it was low to the ground, Minmi probably ate low growing plants like ferns.

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1.      A picture of a Minmi.

2.      The skull of a Minmi.

3.     

4.      When Australian dinosaurs lived.

5.      Information on  Minmi.

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