Dino card No. 1697 of 2,027

Spiclypeus

Say it: spi-KLIP-ee-us

Name means: “spike shield”1

Ate: PlantsHorned dinosLate Cretaceous

Spiclypeus was a horned dinosaur with a huge frill on its head. It lived in what is now Montana, USA, about 76 million years ago. This dinosaur had a very bumpy and spiky frill that made it look extra tough.1

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Fergus County, Montana, USA, near the town of Winifred1

Food

Plants4

Length

4.5 to 6 m1

estimated

Weight

3 tonnes to 4 tonnes2

estimated

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2.5 cars

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 33 bananas end to endas heavy as 130 big dogsas heavy as 800 watermelons

How big was Spiclypeus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Spiclypeus had horns that pointed out to the sides, not straight up like some other horned dinosaurs.1

The frill of Spiclypeus had six spikes (called epiparietals) that were all fused together at their bases.1

The two top spikes on its frill curled forward, while the bottom spike pointed backward and upward.1

The only known fossil of Spiclypeus shows signs of disease: it had infections in its skull and a bone in its arm.1

Spiclypeus lived at the same time as other horned dinosaurs like Kosmoceratops and Utahceratops.1

Its name means 'spike shield' because of the spiky frill on its head.1

AI-made picture of Spiclypeus — An AI-made picture of how Spiclypeus 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 Spiclypeus

?How big was Spiclypeus?

Spiclypeus was about 4.5 to 6 metres long (15 to 20 feet) and weighed around 3 to 4 tonnes.2

?What did Spiclypeus eat?

Spiclypeus was a plant-eater. It had a beak and cheek teeth for cropping and chewing tough plants.2

?Did Spiclypeus have any diseases?

Yes, the only known Spiclypeus fossil had infections in its frill and a badly diseased left arm bone, with a hole to drain pus.2 3

?When did Spiclypeus live?

Spiclypeus lived about 76 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Spiclypeus
Named by: Mallon et al. 20164
Group: Horned dinos
Family / clade: Ceratopsidae4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ceratopsia > Ceratopsidae4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Judith River4
Countries: USA4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Spiclypeus was named in 2016 by scientists Mallon, Ott, Larson, Iuliano, and Evans. The only known fossil was found in Montana, USA.4 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Spiclypeus grew, because only one partial skeleton has been found.1

Where the facts come from

Spiclypeus shipporum gen. et sp. nov., a Boldly ... - PMC (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Spiclypeus (en.wikipedia.org)
Spiclypeus shipporum, the New Dino in Town - Canadian Museum of Nature (nature.ca)
Spiclypeus 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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