Sauropelta
From Greek 'sauros' (lizard) + 'pelte' (small shield), meaning 'lizard shield', referring to the bony armor covering the body.
Sauropelta is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that existed in the Early Cretaceous Period of North America. One species (S. edwardsorum) has been named. Anatomically, Sauropelta is one of the most well-understood nodosaurids, with fossilized remains recovered in the U.S. states of Wyoming, Montana, and possibly Utah. It is also the earliest known genus of nodosaurine; most of its remains are found in a section of the Cloverly Formation dated to 108.5 million years ago.
Diagnosis
- Long mandibular tooth row with 25-27 alveoli extending close to symphysis, distinct from nodosaurs with fewer alveoli
- Unfused atlas-axis with odontoid only fused to axis centrum, a primitive acanthopholid condition not seen in nodosaurs
- Dermal armor consisting of hollow-based plates with concave to deeply hollowed inferior surfaces, more delicate than nodosaurs
- Unfused ribs to dorsal vertebrae and unfused chevrons to caudal centra, distinct from nodosaur condition
- Long slender femur relative to humerus with well-rounded internal condyles projecting far backward
- Long narrow anterior iliac blade extending forward with long preacetabular process, characteristic of acanthopholids
Species
Sauropelta edwardsorum Ostrom, 1970
Type species
Named in honor of the Edwards family; originally published as "edwardsi" by Ostrom in 1970, corrected to "edwardsorum" by Olshevsky in 1991 to adhere to Latin grammatical conventions for naming a species after multiple people.
- Holotype
- AMNH 3032 , American Museum of Natural History
- Material
- Partial skeleton lacking skull, from Units V, VI or VII.
- Horizon
- Cloverly Formation, Aptian–Cenomanian, Early Cretaceous–Late Cretaceous , 121.4–93.9 million years ago
- Locality
- AMNH 32-3, Montana, United States Ostrom (1970) gives the holotype's horizon as Unit V, VI or VII of the Cloverly with the precise level unknown. Unit V is the Little Sheep Mudstone and Units VI and VII the Himes, so the specimen comes from one of those two members.
Synonyms
-
Sauropelta edwardsi emended spelling
Ostrom's (1970) original spelling; corrected to edwardsorum by Olshevsky (1991), as the name honors more than one person.
Synonyms of the genus
| Name | Type | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Peltosaurus | preoccupied | Name preoccupied by Peltosaurus (Squamata). |
Notable specimens
-
AMNH 3036
American Museum of Natural History exceptional preservation
Called one of the best-preserved nodosaurid skeletons known, preserving a large amount of body armor in situ. On display at the American Museum of Natural History, it let Carpenter accurately describe and reconstruct Sauropelta's armor arrangement.
-
AMNH 3035
American Museum of Natural History complementary
Preserves the cervical armor and most of a skull, missing only the end of the snout, supplying cranial anatomy absent from the skull-less holotype skeleton.
References
- Carpenter, K. (1984). Skeletal reconstruction and life restoration of Sauropelta (Ankylosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Cretaceous of North America. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 21(12): 1491-1498. doi:10.1139/e84-154 carpenter1984a
- Ostrom, J. H. (1970). Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Bighorn Basin area, Wyoming and Montana. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 35: 1-234. ostrom1970a
-
Olshevsky, G. (1991). A revision of the parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, excluding the advanced Crocodylia. Mesozoic Meanderings 2: 1-196.
Corrects the epithet to edwardsorum, keeping Ostrom's authority.
olshevsky1991a -
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.
jones2026a