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Dyoplosaurus, Late CretaceousDinosaur Park Formation, Alberta · named 1924
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Dyoplosaurus

"double armored lizard"

Lived
84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
Diet
Herbivore
Group
Ankylosaurs, Ankylosauridae
Found in
Canada
Named by
Parks 1924

Where its fossils were found

The evidence

Today

1 find

80 million years ago

Map: C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP

Habitat

Winding rivers crossed a forested floodplain in what is now Alberta, Canada. Conifers formed much of the canopy, with ferns below; Gorgosaurus, Styracosaurus and Parasaurolophus lived in the same region.

Field notes

About Dyoplosaurus

What it was like

Dyoplosaurus was an ankylosaur, a low, armored plant eater with a club on its tail. Its skeleton includes the tail club and parts of the armor, and it was close to Euoplocephalus.

Its world

It lived in the Late Cretaceous, in what is now Alberta, Canada. It comes from the Dinosaur Park Formation, where it shared the land with the tyrannosaur Gorgosaurus, the horned Styracosaurus and the crested duckbill Parasaurolophus.

How it was found

Parks named Dyoplosaurus in 1924. For many years it was folded into Euoplocephalus, but it was later found to be different.

Field gallery

More views of Dyoplosaurus

Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.

Dyoplosaurus in its habitat, photo 1

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 Dyoplosaurus.

The evidence

The science behind Dyoplosaurus

Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.

From its own fossils

  • The partial skeleton preserves skin, armor, parts of the skull and jaws, hips, hind feet and the tail club.
  • Its tail ends in a narrow bony knob that is longer than it is wide, carried on a stiffened handle.
  • Its hind claws are triangular when viewed from above, and triangular armor plates run along the sides of the front of the tail.

Borrowed from relatives

  • Euoplocephalus guides the missing front of the face and neck armor.
  • Pinacosaurus provides a guide to the incomplete hands.

Still unknown

  • The complete arrangement of its armor and the shape of the front of its skull.
  • Its exact finger arrangement and color.
  • How it grew and whether it lived in groups.

Often drawn wrong

  • A broad, rounded tail club copies other ankylosaurs; the known Dyoplosaurus knob is narrow and elongated.

Discovery timeline

  1. 1924Named itParks
  2. 2009Full descriptionArbour, Burns & Sissons
  3. 2009PostureArbour
  4. 2013Family treeArbour & Currie

Key papers

The research behind what we know of Dyoplosaurus

Close relatives

Other members of Ankylosauridae

Sources: Wikidata