Panoplosaurus
"fully armored lizard"
Type species Panoplosaurus mirus
- Lived
- 84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 7 m (23 ft)
- Group
- Ankylosaurs, Nodosauridae
- Found in
- Canada and United States
- Named by
- Lambe 1919
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical ankylosaur shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
It lived on the coastal plain of western North America. The Dinosaur Park Formation also contains Edmontonia, Euoplocephalus and Daspletosaurus.
Field notes
About Panoplosaurus
What it was like
Panoplosaurus was a nodosaur, a heavy armored plant eater without a tail club. It was about 7 meters (23 feet) long. Bony plates covered its skull, neck and back, and it had broad plates over its shoulders instead of long spikes.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous, in western North America. Its best fossils come from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, where it shared the land with its relative Edmontonia, the club-tailed Euoplocephalus and the tyrannosaur Daspletosaurus.
How it was found
Lambe named Panoplosaurus in 1919. The type species is Panoplosaurus mirus. Its skull is one of the best preserved of any nodosaur.
Field gallery
More views of Panoplosaurus
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 Panoplosaurus.
The evidence
The science behind Panoplosaurus
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Skulls preserve a tapering snout and lumpy bony plates over the head.
- The skeleton preserves bands of paired armor plates around the neck, with small bony pieces between larger plates.
- Its nasal passages followed a winding route through the snout.
Borrowed from relatives
- Missing parts of the body are restored using nodosaur relatives such as Edmontonia, including a tail without a club.
Still unknown
- Its color.
- The complete arrangement of armor along its body and tail.
- Whether it lived alone or in groups.
Discovery timeline
- 1919Named itLambe
- 2008SkullWitmer & Ridgely
- 2018SkullBourke, Porter & Witmer
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Panoplosaurus
Named it
Described an armored dinosaur from a skull and bony plates found in Alberta.
Description of a new genus and species (Panoplosaurus mirus) of an armoured dinosaur from the Belly River Beds of Alberta. Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, series 3 13: 39-50
No link available
Skull
Skull scans revealed that Panoplosaurus had more complicated nasal passages than previously recognized.
The Paranasal Air Sinuses of Predatory and Armored Dinosaurs (Archosauria: Theropoda and Ankylosauria) and Their Contribution to Cephalic Structure. The Anatomical Record 291: 1362-1388
Read the paper : The Paranasal Air Sinuses of Predatory and Armored Dinosaurs (Archosauria: Theropoda and Ankylosauria) and Their Contribution to Cephalic Structure (opens in a new tab)Skull
Airflow models suggest that winding nasal passages warmed inhaled air and recovered heat and moisture during exhalation.
Convoluted nasal passages function as efficient heat exchangers in ankylosaurs (Dinosauria: Ornithischia: Thyreophora). PLOS ONE 13: e0207381
Read the paper : Convoluted nasal passages function as efficient heat exchangers in ankylosaurs (Dinosauria: Ornithischia: Thyreophora) (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Nodosauridae
Sources: Wikidata