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Crichtonpelta

Say it: KRIK-ton-PEL-ta

Name means: “Crichton's shield”1

Ate: PlantsArmoured dinosEarly Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous

Crichtonpelta was an armoured dinosaur that looked like a living tank. It had bony plates on its body and a cheek horn that pointed upward. This dinosaur lived in what is now China during the Late Cretaceous period.1

Lived

106 to 90 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Liaoning Province, China1 2

Food

Plants3

Length

3 to 4 m1

estimate for a related species, Crichtonsaurus

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 4 dogs nose to tailas long as 22 bananas end to end

How big was Crichtonpelta compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Crichtonpelta is named after Michael Crichton, the author of Jurassic Park.1

It is the oldest known ankylosaurine dinosaur, living about 99 to 95 million years ago.1

The cheek horn of Crichtonpelta pointed upward, a unique feature not seen in other ankylosaurs.1

Its skull roof had a mass of armour that was not divided into separate tiles.1

Scientists are not sure if Crichtonpelta had a tail club, because no tail bones have been found.1

AI-made picture of Crichtonpelta — An AI-made picture of how Crichtonpelta might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Crichtonpelta

?How big was Crichtonpelta?

It was about 3 to 4 metres long, a bit bigger than its relative Crichtonsaurus.1

?What did Crichtonpelta eat?

It was a herbivore, so it ate plants.1 3

?Did Crichtonpelta have a tail club?

Scientists are not sure, because no tail bones have been found.1

?When did Crichtonpelta live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 99 to 95 million years ago.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Crichtonpelta
Named by: Arbour and Currie 20163
Group: Armoured dinos
Family / clade: Ankylosauridae3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ankylosauria > Ankylosauridae > Thyreophora3
Age of the rocks: 106 to 90 million years (Albian / Turonian)3
Rock formations: Sunjiawan3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The first fossils were found near Beipiao, China, and were named Crichtonsaurus benxiensis in 2007. In 2014, Victoria Arbour decided it was a different genus and renamed it Crichtonpelta.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Crichtonpelta had a tail club, because no complete tail has been found.1

Where the facts come from

Crichtonpelta (en.wikipedia.org)
A New Specimen of Crichtonpelta benxiensis (Dinosauria: Ankylosaurinae) from the Mid‐Cretaceous of Liaoning Province, China - YANG - 2017 - Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition - Wiley Online Library (web.archive.org)
Crichtonpelta in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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