Aletopelta

Live reconstruction of Aletopelta coombsi

• USA (California )

• Aletopelta coombsi Ford & Kirkland, 2001

Aletopelta is a genus of bird Beck dinosaur ( Ornithischia ) from the group of Ankylosauria.

Features

Aletopelta was estimated four meters in length, a medium-sized Ankylar, which is known by an incomplete skeleton Fund. Thus, individual teeth, parts of the shoulder girdle, pelvis, limbs, individual ribs and vertebrae as well as numerous bone plates ( osteoderms ) found. As with all Ankylosauria the hull of Aletopelta with an armor of bony plates covered. The pelvic region was thereby provided with a shield of interconnected polygonal plates and on the shoulder region, he pointed thicker plates and spines. Also, the neck and the tail were protected by osteoderms. Like all Ankylosauria he was a stocky dinosaur that was moving along quadruped ( four legged ). The limbs were short and strong, striking are the opposite the lower legs significantly longer femur. The skull of this dinosaur is not known, only individual teeth are preserved, these were remarkably wide. Like all Ankylar Aletopelta has fed on plants.

Discovery and designation

The fossil remains of Aletopelta were discovered in the Point Loma Formation near Carlsbad in the south of the U.S. state of California, and first described in 2001. Although the findings come from marine sediments, yet Aletopelta lived like all Ankylar on the mainland - probably the carcass was rinsed after the death of the animal into the sea. The name comes from the Greek words aletes ( " wandering " ) and pelta ( "shield" ), type species and only known species is A. coombsi.

The finds are dated to the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian ) at an age of around 76-72 million years.

System

The systematic classification of Aletopelta within the Ankylosauria is controversial. Originally he was considered a representative of the Nodosauridae, the describer arrange it, however, because of the shape of the bone plates in the Ankylosauridae one. Other sources maintain the finds too sparse for an accurate classification.

Documents

• Matthew K. Vickaryous, Teresa Maryańska and David B. Weishampel: Ankylosauria. In: David Weishampel, Peter Dodson and Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria. University of California Press, 2004 ISBN 0-520-24209-2. ; Pp. 363-392.