Zaraapelta
From Mongolian 'zaraa' meaning 'hedgehog', in reference to the prickly appearance of ankylosaurs, combined with Greek 'pelte' meaning 'small shield', a common component of ankylosaurian names referring to their body armor
Zaraapelta is an extinct genus of herbivorous ankylosaurid thyreophoran dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. The type species is Zaraapelta nomadis, named and described by Arbour et al in 2014. Zaraapelta is known from a single skull from the Baruungoyot Formation. It was found to be closest to Tarchia in the phylogenetic analysis within its description.
Diagnosis
- Squamosal horn with unique smooth-textured keel offset from rest of horn by distinct change to granular texture
- Elaborate pattern of postocular caputegulae covering entire postocular region between squamosal and quadratojugal horns
- Bulbous cranial ornamentation characteristic of ankylosaurine ankylosaurid
Species
Zaraapelta nomadis Arbour et al., 2014
Type species
From the Latin genitive of 'nomas' meaning 'nomad', honoring the Nomadic Expeditions travel agency that organized many paleontological expeditions to Mongolia.
- Holotype
- MPC-D 100/1338 , Paleontological Center, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
- Material
- Partial skull missing anterior rostrum, left side otherwise complete, right side broken across orbit.
- Horizon
- Baruungoyot Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
- Locality
- Hermiin Tsav, Ömnögovi, Mongolia
References
- Arbour, V. M.; Currie, P. J.; Badamgarav, D. (2014). The ankylosaurid dinosaurs of the Upper Cretaceous Baruungoyot and Nemegt formations of Mongolia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 172(3): 631-652. Oxford University Press (OUP). doi:10.1111/zoj.12185 arbour2014b
-
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.
Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.
jones2026a