Open Paleo

Antarctopelta

Salgado & Gasparini, 2006 ann-TARK-toh-PEL-tuh

From 'Antarctica' and Greek 'pelta' meaning 'shield', meaning 'Antarctic shield', reflecting its discovery in Antarctica.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Antarctopelta is a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur, a group of large, quadrupedal herbivores, that lived during the late Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period on what is now James Ross Island, Antarctica. Antarctopelta is the only known ankylosaur from Antarctica and a member of Parankylosauria. The only described specimen was found in 1986, the first dinosaur to be found on the continent, by Argentine geologists Eduardo Olivero and Robert Scasso. The fossils were later described in 2006 by paleontologists Leonardo Salgado and Zulma Gasparini, who named the type species A. oliveroi after Olivero. A 2024 reappraisal by Soto Acuña, Vargas, and Kaluza redescribed the holotype, placed the genus within Parankylosauria, and reinterpreted its caudal osteoderms as a Stegouros-like bony tail weapon.

Diagnosis

  1. Asymmetrical cheek teeth with at least seven denticles on the mesial border, marked vertical ridges confluent with the denticles on the lingual side, and an ornamented cingulum with fine striations.
  2. Scapular girdle unfused (scapula and coracoid not coossified).
  3. Metatarsal IV with a proximal epiphysis noticeably wider than those of the other metatarsals.
  4. Well-marked striations on the supracetabular shelf of the ilium.
  5. Sacral shield filling the space between both ilia and covering the sacral neural spines, ornamented with several irregular sulci and pits.
  6. Intradermal ossicles approximately 8 mm in diameter.

Species

Antarctopelta oliveroi Salgado & Gasparini, 2006

Type species

Named for Eduardo Olivero, the Argentine geologist who discovered the holotype in 1986 and has worked in Antarctica for decades.

Holotype
MLP 86-X-28-1 , Museo de La Plata
Material
Partial skeleton: left dentary fragment with an erupting tooth and at least five isolated cheek teeth; anterior, mid (cast), and posterior cervical vertebrae; two fused dorsosacral and three sacral centra; ~eight caudal vertebrae; rib fragments; left scapular girdle; distal radius; ilium fragments; metatarsal epiphyses; two pedal phalanges; dorsal and costal osteoderms; sacral-shield fragments; caudal-weapon osteoderms; and ossicles.
Horizon
lower Gamma Member, Snow Hill Island Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
D6-1, Santa Marta Cove, Antarctica

References

  1. Salgado, L.; Gasparini, Z. (2006). Reappraisal of an ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of James Ross Island (Antarctica). Geodiversitas 28(1): 119-135. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5376155 salgado2006a
  2. Soto-Acuña, S.; Vargas, A. O.; Kaluza, J. (2024). A new look at the first dinosaur discovered in Antarctica: reappraisal of Antarctopelta oliveroi (Ankylosauria: Parankylosauria). Advances in Polar Science 35(1): 78-107. doi:10.12429/j.advps.2023.0036

    Full redescription of the holotype; recovers Antarctopelta within Parankylosauria, confirms an upper Campanian age, and reinterprets the caudal osteoderms as a Stegouros-like tail weapon.

    soto-acuña2024a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a
  4. Coria, R. A.; Salgado, L.; Gasparini, Z.; Moly, J. J. (2011). Nuevos materiales del ejemplar holotipo de Antarctopelta oliveroi Salgado y Gasparini (Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Ankylosauria) del Cretácico superior de Antártida [New materials from the holotype specimen of Antarctopelta oliveroi Salgado and Gasparini (Dinosauria, Ornithischia, Ankylosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous of Antarctica]. Ameghiniana 48(4): R10.

    Reports the 2009 relocation of the holotype site and the first GPS fix for it, and refers further material from the site to the holotype individual.

    coria2011a