Dracopelta
Dracopelta was a small, armoured dinosaur that looked like a walking tank. It lived during the Late Jurassic in what is now Portugal. Its back was covered in bony plates and spikes to protect it from hungry predators.12
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Fun facts
Dracopelta was one of the earliest armoured dinosaurs, living about 150 million years ago.1
Its name means 'dragon shield' because of the bony plates that covered its back.1
The only known fossil was found in 1964 during road construction near Praia da Assenta Sul, Portugal.2
Scientists are not sure exactly how Dracopelta is related to other armoured dinosaurs. Some think it might be a nodosaurid, while others say it is too incomplete to tell.32
The fossil includes ribs, armour plates, and parts of the back leg, but no skull has been found.2
Dracopelta lived in a warm, river environment with lots of plants.2
Most asked questions about Dracopelta
?How big was Dracopelta?
Scientists estimate Dracopelta was about 3 metres (9.8 feet) long and weighed around 300 kilograms (660 pounds). Another estimate suggests it could have been 4 to 6 metres (13 to 20 feet) long.1
?When did Dracopelta live?
Dracopelta lived during the Late Jurassic period, about 152 to 145 million years ago.1
?What did Dracopelta eat?
The sources do not say exactly what Dracopelta ate, but it was an armoured dinosaur (ankylosaur) that lived in a warm, river environment with lots of plants, so it likely ate plants.1
?Was Dracopelta a dinosaur?
Yes, Dracopelta was a dinosaur. It was an ankylosaurian dinosaur, a type of armoured dinosaur.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Dracopelta
- Named by
- Galton 19805
- Group
- Armoured dinos
- Family / clade
- Ankylosauria5
- Classification
- Ornithischia > Ankylosauria > Thyreophora5
- Age of the rocks
- 145 to 143 million years (Tithonian)5
- Rock formations
- Freixial5
- Countries
- Portugal5
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- The fossil was found in early 1964 by Leonel Trindade during road works near Barril, Portugal. Georges Zbyszewski and Octávio da Veiga Ferreira dug it out on December 22, 1964. Peter Galton named it Dracopelta zbyszewskii in 1980.2
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Dracopelta is a valid genus or a nomen dubium (a doubtful name) because the fossil is so incomplete.32
Where the facts come from
- Dracopelta (en.wikipedia.org)
- History of the discovery of the ankylosaur Dracopelta zbyszewskii (Upper Jurassic), with new data about the type specimen and its locality (lneg.pt)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Dracopelta zbyszewskii | Dinosaur Database by DinoAnimals.com (dinoanimals.com)
- Dracopelta in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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