Dracopelta
"dragon shield"
- Lived
- 145 to 143 million years ago, Late Jurassic
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Group
- Ankylosaurs
- Found in
- Portugal
- Named by
- Galton 1980
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
145 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers crossed its landscape in Portugal, leaving sand with small fragments of plants. Other dinosaurs from its world include Dacentrurus and Lusovenator.
Field notes
About Dracopelta
What it was like
Dracopelta was a small armored plant eater, one of the earliest ankylosaurs. It is known from a partial skeleton with bony plates and ribs.
Its world
It lived at the end of the Jurassic in what is now Portugal. Its bones come from the Freixial Formation, where the stegosaur Dacentrurus also lived.
How it was found
Galton named Dracopelta in 1980 from one find.
Field gallery
More views of Dracopelta
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Dracopelta.
The evidence
The science behind Dracopelta
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial rib cage preserves backbones, ribs and bony armor in place.
- Its armor includes plates of different shapes, with some overlapping their neighbors.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing head and much of the tail are restored by comparison with early ankylosaurs such as Mymoorapelta.
Still unknown
- The shape of its skull and tail tip.
- Its exact place among the early ankylosaurs.
- Its color and how its armor changed as it grew.
Discovery timeline
- 1980Named itGalton
- 2003Its worldAntunes & Mateus
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Dracopelta
Named it
Described an armored dinosaur from a partial rib cage with overlapping bony plates in Portugal.
Partial skeleton of Dracopelta zbyszewskii N. Gen. And N. SP., an ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal. Geobios 13: 451-457
Read the paper : Partial skeleton of Dracopelta zbyszewskii N. Gen. And N. SP., an ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Portugal (opens in a new tab)Its world
Reviewed the dinosaurs of Portugal, including Dracopelta, and examined their fossil remains and geological settings.
Dinosaurs of Portugal. Comptes Rendus Palevol 2: 77-95
Read the paper : Dinosaurs of Portugal (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Ankylosauria
Sources: Wikidata