Sauropelta
SORE-oh-PEL-tuh
"lizard shield"
- Lived
- 124 to 98 million years ago, Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Length
- about 6.5 m (21 ft)
- Group
- Ankylosaurs, Nodosauridae
- Found in
- United States
- Named by
- Ostrom 1970
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical ankylosaur shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
110 million years ago
Habitat
Rivers crossed the floodplains where the Cloverly Formation formed. Tenontosaurus, Deinonychus and Microvenator lived in this region.
Field notes
About Sauropelta
What it was like
Sauropelta was a nodosaur, an armored plant eater without a tail club. Its back was covered in rows of bony plates set in the skin, and long spikes stuck out from its neck and shoulders, probably to protect it from attack.
It was about 6.5 meters (21 feet) long, and its tail was very long, making up about half of its length.
Its world
It lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now Montana and Wyoming in the United States. Its bones come from the Cloverly Formation, where it shared the land with the plant eater Tenontosaurus, the sickle-clawed hunter Deinonychus and the small feathered Microvenator.
How it was found
Ostrom named Sauropelta in 1970. With 21 finds, it is one of the best known nodosaurs, and the many bones show much of its body.
Field gallery
More views of Sauropelta
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 Sauropelta.
The evidence
The science behind Sauropelta
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Several partial skeletons preserve armor in its original position, showing how bony plates covered the body.
- Large spikes lined the sides of the neck and shoulders, with lower plates across the back and a bony shield above the hips.
- Its long tail tapered to a narrow tip.
Borrowed from relatives
- Much of its skeleton and armor can be restored from its own fossils rather than borrowed from other armored dinosaurs.
Still unknown
- Its color and skin pattern.
- How its armor developed as it grew.
- How it used its long neck spikes during an attack.
Discovery timeline
- 1970Named itOstrom
- 1984Full descriptionCarpenter
- 2013Same rocksOreska, Carrano & Dzikiewicz
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Sauropelta
Named it
Named Sauropelta while describing the dinosaurs and other fossils of the Cloverly Formation.
Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Bighorn Basin area, Wyoming and Montana. Peabody Museum Bulletin 35: 1-234
No link available
Full description
Combined partial skeletons with armor preserved in place to reconstruct its body and compare its feet with fossil tracks.
Skeletal reconstruction and life restoration of Sauropelta (Ankylosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Cretaceous of North America. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 21: 1491-1498
Read the paper : Skeletal reconstruction and life restoration of Sauropelta (Ankylosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Cretaceous of North America (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
New fossil sites expanded the known variety of animals in the Cloverly Formation, especially its smaller vertebrates.
Vertebrate paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous), I: faunal composition, biogeographic relationships, and sampling. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33: 264-292
Read the paper : Vertebrate paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous), I: faunal composition, biogeographic relationships, and sampling (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Nodosauridae
Sources: Wikidata