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Nodosaurids
Nodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), periods in what is now Asia, Europe, North America, and possibly South America. While traditionally regarded as a monophyletic clade as the sister taxon to the Ankylosauridae, some analyses recover it as a paraphyletic grade leading to the ankylosaurids. Description Nodosaurids, like their sister group the ankylosaurids, were heavily armored dinosaurs adorned with rows of bony armor nodules and spines (osteoderms), which were covered in keratin sheaths. Ankylosaurians were small- to large-sized, heavily built, quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs, possessing small, leaf-shaped teeth. Unlike ankylosaurids, nodosaurids lacked flail (weapon), mace-like tail clubs and instead had more flexible tail tips. Many nodosaurids had spikes projecting outward from their shoulders. One particularly well-preserved nodosaurid "mummy", the holotype of ''Borealopelta, Borealopelt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mymoorapelta
''Mymoorapelta'' (Meaning "Shield from the Mygatt-Moore Quarry" after a combination of the names of the discoverers of the Mygatt-Moore Quarry that fossils were originally collected from, and the Greek word πέλτα, meaning "shield") is a Nodosauridae, nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian-Tithonian, around 155 to 150 million years ago) Morrison Formation (Brushy Basin Member) of western Colorado and central Utah, United States, USA. The animal is known from a single species, ''Mymoorapelta maysi'', and few specimens are known. The most complete specimen is the holotype individual from the Mygatt-Moore Quarry, which includes , a partial , , and other bones. It was initially described by James Kirkland (paleontologist), James Kirkland and Kenneth Carpenter in 1994. Along with ''Gargoyleosaurus'', it is one of the earliest known nodosaurids. ''Mymoorapelta'' is one of the smaller known nodosaurids, with the estimated length of the largest specimen only reach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sauropelta
''Sauropelta'' ( ; meaning 'lizard shield') is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that existed in the Early Cretaceous Period of North America. One species (''S. edwardsorum'') has been named. Anatomically, ''Sauropelta'' is one of the most well-understood nodosaurids, with fossilized remains recovered in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Montana, and possibly Utah. It is also the earliest known genus of nodosaurine; most of its remains are found in a section of the Cloverly Formation dated to 108.5 million years ago. It was a medium-sized nodosaurid, measuring about long. ''Sauropelta'' had a distinctively long tail which made up about half of its body length. Although its body was smaller than a modern black rhinoceros, ''Sauropelta'' was about the same mass, weighing in at about . The extra weight was largely due to its extensive covering of bony armor, including the characteristically large spines projecting from its neck. Description ''Sauropelta'' was a heavily built quadrupedal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acantholipan
''Acantholipan'' is a genus of herbivorous nodosaurid dinosaur from Mexico from the early Santonian age of the Late Cretaceous. It includes one species, ''Acantholipan gonzalezi.'' Discovery and naming In the north of Mexico, fragmentary fossils have been found of nodosaurids. A partial skeleton excavated at Los Primos near San Miguel in Coahuila, was described in 2011. When Rivera-Sylva and colleagues reported the discovery of this specimen, CPC 272, they initially considered it too fragmentary to name. Later it was judged that the remains were sufficiently distinct to be given a binomial name. In 2018, the type species ''Acantholipan gonzalezi'' was named by Rivera-Sylva ''et al''. The generic name combines a Greek ''akanthos'', "spine", with ''lipán'', the usual Spanish designation of the '' Lépai-Ndé'', the "Gray People", a tribe of the Apache inhabiting the area of the find. The specific name honours the Mexican paleontologist Arturo Homero González-González, the chair ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time scale, geologic time from 161.5 ± 1.0 to 143.1 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum, strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age. In the past, ''Malm'' was also used to indicate the unit of geological time, but this usage is now discouraged to make a clear distinction between lithostratigraphic and geochronologic/chronostratigraphic units. Subdivisions The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three (faunal) stages of Upper Jurassic rock: Paleogeography During the Late Jurassic Epoch, Pangaea broke up into two supercontinents, Laurasia to the north, and Gondwana to the south. The result of this break-up was the emergence of the Atlantic Ocean, which initially was relatively narrow. Life forms This epoch is well known for many famous types of d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polacanthinae
Polacanthinae is a subfamily of ankylosaurs, most often nodosaurids, from the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous of Europe and potentially North America and Asia. The group is defined as the largest clade closer to '' Polacanthus foxii'' than '' Nodosaurus textilis'' or ''Ankylosaurus magniventris'', as long as that group nests within either Nodosauridae or Ankylosauridae. If ''Polacanthus'', and by extent Polacanthinae, falls outside either family-level clade, then the ''-inae'' suffix would be inappropriate, and the proper name for the group would be the informally defined Polacanthidae. Polacanthines were somewhat more lightly armoured than more advanced ankylosaurids and nodosaurids. Their spikes were made up of thin, compact bone with less reinforcing collagen than in the heavily armoured nodosaurids. The relative fragility of polacanthine armour suggests that it may have been as much for display as defense. They appear to have become extinct about the same time a land br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021 In Paleontology
Flora Plants Fungi New taxa Research * Exceptionally preserved specimens of ''Tawuia'', providing new information on the anatomy of this organism, are described from the Tonian Liulaobei Formation, Liulaobei and Shiwangzhuang Formation, Shiwangzhuang formations (China) by Tang ''et al.'' (2021), who interpret ''Tawuia'' as a Coenocyte, coenocytic eukaryote, possibly a Macroalgae, macroalga. * Microfossils which may represent early terrestrial fungi are described from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation (China) by Gan ''et al.'' (2021). * A Rhynie chert fossil ''Mycokidstonia sphaerialoides'', originally interpreted as an Ascomycota, ascomycete, is reclassified as a member of Glomeromycota belonging to the family Ambisporaceae by Walker ''et al.'' (2021). * Carboniferous organism ''Oochytrium lepidodendri'', originally classified as a fungus, is reinterpreted as an oomycete by Strullu-Derrien ''et al.'' (2021). * Probable fossils of Multicellular organism, multicellular Eukar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tatankacephalus
''Tatankacephalus'' is a basal genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous. Its length has been estimated at 7 meters (23 ft). Its fossil has been collected from the Cloverly Formation (Aptian-Albian) of central Montana, USA, during 1996, 1997 and 1998, in the region of the Middle Dome in Wheatland County. The type species is ''T. cooneyorum'', described by William L. Parsons and Kirsten Parsons in 2009. The genus name is derived from Oglala ''tatanka'', "bison" and Greek ''kephale'', "head", in reference to the rounded head form. The specific name honours the family of John Patrick Cooney. The holotype is MOR 1073, a partial skull with an estimated total undamaged length of 32 centimetres, lacking the lower jaws. Also some ribs, osteoderms and a tooth have been recovered. The front of the snout is missing. The specimen is that of an adult individual. According to the authors the fossil has not been deformed by compression, allowing to distingui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taohelong
''Taohelong'' is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur known from Lower Cretaceous rocks in north-central China. ''Taohelong'' is based on Gansu Dinosaur Museum (GSDM) 00021, fossils including a tail vertebra, ribs, a left ilium (the main bone of the hip), and bony armor recovered from the Hekou Group in the Lanzhou-Minhe Basin. The animal's armor includes part of a "sacral shield", a carpet of osteoderms over the hips found in some other ankylosaurians. ''Taohelong'' was named and described in 2013 by Yang Jing-Tao, You Hai-Lu, Li Da-Qing, and Kong De-Lai. The type species is ''Taohelong jinchengensis''. The generic name means "dragon (''long'') of the river (''he'') Tao". The specific name refers to the provenance at Jincheng. The describers established some diagnostic traits. The neural channel of the tail vertebra has a cross-section like an inverted trapezium. In top view the profile of the outer rim of the ilium is like a mirrored "S". The osteoderms of the sacral shield ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silvisaurus
''Silvisaurus'', from the Latin silva "woodland" and Greek sauros "lizard", is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Early to Late Cretaceous period. It is one of the only known dinosaur species named from Kansas and was designated the official state land fossil in 2023. Discovery and species A fossil of the species was discovered in the 1950s by rancher Warren W. Condray of Wells, Kansas. He notified senator Frank Carlson who directed him to the chancellor of the University of Kansas, Franklin David Murphy. Murphy sent the preparator of the paleontology of vertebrates department of the natural history museum of the university, Russell R. Camp, to investigate the matter. In July 1955 Camp, with help from Condray, recovered the skeleton of a dinosaur. It was further prepared by Camp and Glenn H. Marihugh. In 1960 the find was described and named by Theodore H. Eaton Jr., also from the University of Kansas, as the type species ''Silvisaurus condrayi''. The generic name is derived ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peloroplites
''Peloroplites'' (meaning "monstrous heavy one") is a monospecific genus of nodosauridae, nodosaurid dinosaur from Utah that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to lower Turonian stage, 98.2 to 93 Ma) in what is now the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation. The type and only species, ''Peloroplites cedrimontanus'', is known from a partial skull and postcrania, postcranial skeleton. It was named in 2008 by Kenneth Carpenter and colleagues. ''Peloroplites'' was 6 metres (20 feet) long and weighed 2 tonnes (4,410 lbs), making it one of the largest known nodosaurids, and came from a time when ankylosauridae, ankylosaurids and nodosaurids were attaining large sizes.Paul, G.S., 2016, ''The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs 2nd Edition'', Princeton University Press Discovery and Naming In 2001, a skeleton of a large nodosauridae, nodosaurid from the Cedar Mountain Formation in Emery County, Utah, Emery County, Utah was mentioned by Burge and Bird in a publicatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nodosaurus
''Nodosaurus'' (meaning 'knobbed lizard') is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous nodosauridae, nodosaurid ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous, the fossils of which are found exclusively in the Frontier Formation in Wyoming. Description ''Nodosaurus'' grew up to roughly long and it was an ornithischian dinosaur with bony dermal plates covering the top of its body, and it may have had spikes along its side as well. The dermal plates were arranged in bands along its body, with narrow bands over the ribs alternating with wider plates in between. These wider plates were covered in regularly arranged bony nodules, which give the animal its scientific name. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul, Paul estimated its length at 6 meters (20 ft) and its weight at 3.5 tonnes (3.85 short tons). It had four short legs, five-toed feet, a short neck, and a long, stiff, clubless tail. The head was narrow, with a pointed snout, powerful jaws, and small teeth. It perhaps ate soft plants, as it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niobrarasaurus
''Niobrarasaurus'' (meaning "Niobrara lizard") is an extinct genus of Nodosauridae, nodosaurid ankylosaur which lived during the Cretaceous 87 to 82 million years ago. Its fossils were found in the Smoky Hill Chalk, Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Formation, in western Kansas, which would have been near the middle of Western Interior Sea during the Late Cretaceous. It was a nodosaurid, an ankylosaur without a clubbed tail. It was closely related to ''Nodosaurus''. The type species, ''Niobrarasaurus coleii'', was discovered and collected in 1930 by a geologist named Virgil Cole. It was originally described by Mehl in 1936 and named ''Hierosaurus coleii''. It was then re-described as a new genus by Carpenter ''et al.'' in 1995. In 2002 the type specimen was transferred to the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays, Kansas. It has been estimated to be 5 meters (16 feet) in length and around 227–453 kg (500–1.000 lbs) according to Thomas R. Holtz Jr., Thomas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
