Open Paleo

Sauroplites

Bohlin, 1953 SAWR-o-PLY-teez

From Greek sauros (lizard) and hoplites (armed foot soldier, hoplite); meaning "saurian hoplite".

125.8–113.2 million years ago Barremian–Aptian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Sauroplites is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China.

Diagnosis

  1. Transverse rows of large dermal plates with at least six plates per side in at least one row (vs. three in Palaeoscincus), circular to rhombic in outline with marginal pit-and-ridge zones for connective-tissue attachment
  2. Large plate M with a deep V-shaped cross-section (upper and lower lamellae separated by a deep pocket) and a serrated keel bearing at least six small marginal spines posteriorly
  3. Composite plate F with a central near-circular main portion fused with peripheral smaller ossicles and a deep central concavity on the internal surface
  4. Ribs bearing a pronounced rugose dorsal surface from ~6 cm above the tuberculum, functioning as integument-attachment surface, with strongly broadened cross-section in that zone
  5. Fused pelvic armor of co-ossified polygonal plates (~10 cm diameter) interspersed with rows of much smaller, variably sized plates; no external elevations on individual pelvic plates

Species

Sauroplites scutiger Bohlin, 1953

Type species

From Neo-Latin 'scutiger' meaning 'shield bearer', combining Latin 'scutum' ('shield') and 'gerere' ('to bear'), referring to the heavily armored body of this ankylosaur.

Holotype
Not catalogued (lost)
Material
Fragmentary ribs, a partial ischium, several complete dermal plates and a great number of plate fragments.
Notes
Original specimens were not given an inventory number and are today lost; some casts survive at the AMNH as specimen AMNH 2074.
Horizon
Barremian–Aptian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–113.2 million years ago
Locality
Tebch, Inner Mongolia, China Eberth and colleagues (1993) divide the Tebch section into three informal lithostratigraphic units capped by a basalt, and record that none of them is recognized as a formal unit; the local bedrock is mapped as Tertiary.

References

  1. Bohlin, B. (1953). VI. Vertebrate Palaeontology 6. Fossil reptiles from Mongolia and Kansu. Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the North-western Provinces of China under Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin. The Sino-Swedish Expedition Publication 37: 1-113. bohlin1953a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a
  3. Eberth, D. A.; Russell, D. A.; Braman, D. R.; Deino, A. L. (1993). The age of the dinosaur-bearing sediments at Tebch, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 30(10): 2101-2106. Canadian Science Publishing. doi:10.1139/e93-182

    Dates the Tebch section and records that its beds carry no formal lithostratigraphic unit.

    eberth1993a