Huayangosaurus

Huayangosaurus made for Natur Bornholm, Denmark

Huayangosaurus is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaurs from the Middle Jurassic. It lived during the Bathonian to Callovian stages, around 165 million years ago, some 20 million years before its famous relative, Stegosaurus appeared in North America.
Fossils were found in the province of Huayang in China, and Huayangosaurus were one of the smallest stegosaurians, and measured only 4,5 metres from head to tail.
Huayangosaurus was a quadrupedal herbivore with a small skull and a spiked tail. Like Stegosaurus, Huayangosaurus bore the distinctive double row of plates rising vertically along its arched back. However resembling Stegosaurus, the plates of Huayangosaurus were more spike-like than in Stegosaurus, as well as its skull being broader.
Two plates in the back were formed into large spikes above its hips. These may have been used for deterring an attack from above, considering as it was fairly short in height compared to later stegosaurians.