Open Paleo

Stegopelta

Williston, 1905 STEG-o-PEL-tuh

From Greek stegos, "roof", combined with Greek pelte, "shield" — means "roofed shield"

100.5–93.9 million years ago Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Stegopelta is a genus of struthiosaurin nodosaurid dinosaur based on a partial skeleton from the Cretaceous (latest Albian-earliest Cenomanian) Belle Fourche Member of the Frontier Formation of Fremont County, Wyoming, USA.

Diagnosis

  1. Heavy bony carapace, 2+ inches thick, covered with pentagonal dermal plates arranged in mosaic pattern similar to Glyptodon
  2. Pentagonal dermal bony plates approximately 4 inches in diameter, scrobiculate with elevated middle portions
  3. Series of large transverse bony plates with prominent longitudinal keel, each about hand-sized
  4. Flattened bony scutes approximately 3 inches in diameter distributed across body
  5. About half the size of Stegosaurus with front legs smaller than hind legs
  6. Solid skeleton bones with amphiplatyan dorsal centra and elevated neural arches

Species

Stegopelta landerensis Williston, 1905

Type species

Named for Fremont County, Wyoming (historically associated with the town of Lander), where the holotype specimen was discovered.

Holotype
FMNH UR88 , Field Museum of Natural History
Material
Larger part of skeleton. Heavy bony carapace (2+ inches thick) with mosaic of pentagonal dermal plates (~4 inches diameter); series of large bony plates with longitudinal keel; flattened bony scutes (~3 inches diameter). Dorsal centra amphiplatyan, 75mm width x 70mm length. Tibiae 145mm width distally.
Horizon
lower Belle Fourche Member, Frontier Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
Conant Creek, Wyoming, United States

References

  1. Williston, S. W. (1905). A New Armored Dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Wyoming. Science 22(564): 503-504. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). doi:10.1126/science.22.564.503.b williston1905a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length and mass estimates, and the appearance features.

    paul2024a