Open Paleo

Glyptodontopelta

Ford, 2000 GLIP-to-don-to-PEL-tuh

Glyptodon shield; named for resemblance of its armor to that of the prehistoric mammal Glyptodon, combined with Greek pelta (shield)

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Glyptodontopelta is a monospecific genus of nodosaurid dinosaur from New Mexico that lived during the Late Cretaceous (lower to upper Maastrichtian, 69 to 66 Ma) in what is now the Naashoibito member of the Ojo Alamo Formation. The type and only species, Glyptodontopelta mimus, is known from numerous specimens that consist of osteoderms, a dentary, supraorbital and bone fragments. It was named in 2000 by Tracy Ford. Edmontonia australis is a junior synonym of Glyptodontopelta.

Diagnosis

  1. Large, asymmetric pelvic scutes that are irregularly hexagonal, pentagonal, or quadrilateral in outline, set in a mosaic pattern forming a solid shield over the ilia
  2. Pelvic scutes flat or bearing only a short ridge, abutting each other with no room for small ossicles or rosettes between them
  3. Pelvic scutes have low or flat peaks

Species

Glyptodontopelta mimus Ford, 2000

Type species

From Latin 'mimus' meaning 'mimic' or 'imitation', referring to the armor plates resembling those of the later extinct mammal Glyptodon.

Holotype
USNM 8610 , National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
Material
Section of pelvic osteoderms fused to each other forming a solid shield over the ilia (sutured, irregularly shaped scutes in mosaic pattern)
Horizon
Naashoibito Member, Ojo Alamo Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Barrel Springs Arroyo, New Mexico, United States Barrel Springs Arroyo is also called De-na-zin Wash, and lies about 1.5 km southwest of the Ojo Alamo Store. Ford (2000) assigns the holotype to the Kirtland Shale, where later work places the Naashoibito in the Ojo Alamo.

References

  1. Ford, T. L. (2000). A review of ankylosaur osteoderms from New Mexico and a preliminary review of ankylosaur armor. Dinosaurs of New Mexico 17: 157-176. ford2000a
  2. Burns, M. E. (2008). Taxonomic utility of ankylosaur (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) osteoderms: Glyptodontopelta mimus Ford, 2000: a test case. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(4): 1102-1109. doi:10.1671/0272-4634-28.4.1102

    Assigns it to Nodosauridae on osteoderm histology, shows it valid, synonymizes Edmontonia australis with it, and gives its type locality as Barrel Springs Arroyo in the Naashoibito Member.

    burns2008a
  3. Vickaryous, M. K.; Maryańska, T.; Weishampel, D. B. (2004). Ankylosauria. The Dinosauria, Second Edition (Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H., eds.) 363-392. University of California Press, Berkeley.

    Listed Glyptodontopelta mimus, and the osteoderm species Edmontonia australis that Burns (2008) later synonymized with it, as nomina dubia.

    vickaryous2004a
  4. Arbour, V. M.; Currie, P. J. (2015). Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 14(5): 385-444. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2015.1059985

    Treats Glyptodontopelta mimus as valid on the dendritic surface texture of its osteoderms.

    arbour2015a