Animantarx

Skeletal reconstruction of Animantarx

• USA

• Animantarx ramaljonesi Carpenter et al. 1,999

Animantarx is a genus of bird Beck dinosaur from the group of Ankylosauria. They lived during the early Cretaceous in North America.

Features

Animantarx might have been a relatively small member of Ankylosauria with an estimated 3 meters in length, but so far only parts of the skull, spine and limbs have been found.

Like all Ankylosauria he is likely to have moved on all fours ( quadruped ), fed on plants and have been covered by an armor of bony plates, their arrangement is unknown. The head was characterized by the strongly domed skull and the small bumps over the eyes.

Discovery and designation

Fossil remains of Animantarx were found in the Cedar Formation in the U.S. state of Utah and in 1999 by Kenneth Carpenter et al. first described. The name means "living fort ", an allusion to the suspected lifestyle of armored Ankylosauria. Only species and therefore type species is A. ramaljonesi. The finds are dated to the early Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian Lower ) at an age of about 100-96 million years.

System

Animantarx is counted within the Ankylosauria to Nodosauridae. Your relationship with other members of this group is uncertain due to the sparse finds, M. Vickaryous (2004) takes him under " incertae sedis Nodosauridae ".