''Glyptodontopelta'' (meaning "''

Glyptodon ''Glyptodon'' (; ) is a genus of glyptodont, an extinct group of large, herbivorous armadillos, that lived from the Pliocene, around 3.2 million years ago, to the early Holocene, around 11,000 years ago, in South America. It is one of, if not th ...

'' shield") is a

monospecific In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

nodosaurid Nodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous periods in what is now Asia, Europe, North America, and possibly South America. While traditionally regarded as a monophyletic clade as the s ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

from

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

that lived during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

(lower to upper

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian ( ) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age (uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage) of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or Upper Cretaceous series (s ...

, 69 to 66 Ma) in what is now the Naashoibito member of the

Ojo Alamo Formation The Ojo Alamo Formation is a geologic Formation (geology), formation in New Mexico spanning the Mesozoic/Cenozoic boundary. Non-avian dinosaur fossils have controversially been identified in beds of this formation dating from after the Cretaceous ...

. The type and only species, ''Glyptodontopelta mimus'', is known from numerous specimens that consist of osteoderms, a dentary, supraorbital and bone fragments. It was named in 2000 by Tracy Ford. ''

Edmontonia ''Edmontonia'' is a genus of panoplosaurin nodosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. It is part of the Nodosauridae, a family within Ankylosauria. It is named after the Edmonton Formation (now the Horseshoe Canyon Formation in Canada ...

australis'' is a junior synonym of ''Glyptodontopelta''.

Discovery and naming

Glyptodontopelta mima profile reconstruction

Fossils of ''Glyptodontopelta'', consisting only of bony armor, were found in the U.S. state of

. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, ''Glyptodontopelta mimus'', was described by Tracy Lee Ford in 2000.T.L. Ford. (2000). "A review of ankylosaur osteoderms from New Mexico and a preliminary review of ankylosaur armor", In: S. G. Lucas and A. B. Heckert (eds.), ''Dinosaurs of New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin'' 17: 157-176 The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

, USNM 8610, consists of three pieces of fused flat

osteoderm Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinct amph ...

s, found in the

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campa ...

. It was concluded to be a dubious name, a ''

nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...

'', in a 2004 review of the

Ankylosauria Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the clade Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs ...

, but a 2008 publication by Michael Burns concurred with Ford that its armor was distinctive enough to consider it valid. Burns also assigned ''Glyptodontopelta'' to

Nodosauridae Nodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous periods in what is now Asia, Europe, North America, and possibly South America. While traditionally regarded as a monophyletic clade as the ...

— rejecting Ford's Stegopeltinae — and proposed that another armored

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

from New Mexico, ''

australis'', is a synonym of ''Glyptodontopelta mimus'', based on analysis of armor size and shape. Most specimens referred to ''Glyptodontopelta'' comprise isolated osteoderms. The most complete known specimen, SMP VP-1580, comprises the distal part of a left lower jaw (dentary), a left supraorbital, and over a hundred osteoderms and fragments.S.E. Jasinski, R.M. Sullivan, and S.G. Lucas (2011). "Taxonomic Composition of the Alamo Wash Local Fauna from the Upper Cretaceous Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico", In: R.M. Sullivan et al. (eds.), ''Fossil Record 3. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science'' 53: 216-271

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q522942 Nodosauridae Dinosaur genera Maastrichtian dinosaurs Ojo Alamo Formation Fossil taxa described in 2000 Dinosaurs of the United States

Discovery and naming

See also

References