Open Paleo

Acantholipan

Rivera-Sylva et al., 2018 ah-can-tho-lee-pan

From Greek 'akanthos' meaning 'spine' and 'lipán', the Spanish designation for the Lépai-Ndé (Lipan Apache) people of the region where it was found.

85.7–83.6 million years ago Santonian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Acantholipan is a genus of herbivorous nodosaurid dinosaur from Mexico from the early Santonian age of the Late Cretaceous. It includes one species, Acantholipan gonzalezi.

Diagnosis

  1. Ulna with anterolateral process prominent, tapering, and truncated proximally (triangular in lateral view), equal in length to the olecranon process (1:1 ratio).
  2. Conical and slightly caudally curved lateral thoracic osteoderm with a longitudinal oval cross section (length/width ratio 1:3).
  3. Vascular grooves on the lateral face of the osteodermal spine only.

Species

Acantholipan gonzalezi Rivera-Sylva et al., 2018

Type species

Named for the Mexican paleontologist Arturo Homero González-González, chairman of the Museo del Desierto at Saltillo.

Holotype
CPC 272 , Colección Paleontológica de Coahuila, Museo del Desierto (MUDE)
Material
One dorsal vertebra, one caudal vertebra, one rib fragment, the distal end of a left humerus, a left ulna, the distal end of a left femur, and one distal thoracic osteodermal spine.
Horizon
Pen Formation, Santonian, Late Cretaceous , 85.7–83.6 million years ago
Locality
Los Primos, south of San Miguel, Coahuila, Mexico

References

  1. Rivera-Sylva, H. E.; Frey, E.; Stinnesbeck, W.; Carbot-Chanona, G.; Sánchez-Uribe, I. E.; Guzmán-Gutiérrez, J. R. (2018). Paleodiversity of Late Cretaceous Ankylosauria from Mexico and their phylogenetic significance. Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 137(1): 83-93. Pensoft Publishers. doi:10.1007/s13358-018-0153-1 rivera-sylva2018a
  2. Rivera-Sylva, H. E.; Carpenter, K.; Aranda-Manteca, F. J. (2011). Late Cretaceous nodosaurids (Ankylosauria: Ornithischia) from Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas 28(3): 271-278.

    First description of the holotype, and the source of the type locality coordinates, which Rivera-Sylva and colleagues (2018) withhold.

    rivera-sylva2011a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and hip height estimates, and the appearance features; the dorsal spines are from its reconstruction.

    jones2026a