Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Ankylosaurs: Difference between revisions

* Even in Usa the first dino-discoveries included an ankylosaur, one even more incomplete than ''Hylaeosaurus'': “Palaeoscincus” was descibed in 1856 from ''isolated teeth'' initially believed from a lizard. Many undetermined remains were later assigned to it, making “Palaeoscincus” a Waste-Basket taxon, but now they are either regarded as dubious, or classified in other genera. The first North-American ankylosaur known from decent remains was ''Nodosaurus''. Described during the Bone Wars, was known only from pieces of armor with no spikes: that’s why, in old portraits, ''Nodosaurus'' appears spikeless. It became the prototype of its own family, the Nodosaurids, in which every club-less ankylosaur used once to be put. More complete nodosaurids appeared in the XX century, and showed very spiky bodies: ''Panoplosaurus'' and ''Edmontonia'' ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|guess where it was discovered?]]). The latter in particular showed huge shoulder-spikes often ''double pointed''. Nevertheless, was also narrow-headed and devoid of horns or tail-clubs, like all nodosaurs. All these nodosaurs were Late Cretaceous like ''Ankylosaurus''. In the 1970s, Ostrom described an Early Cretaceous animal, ''Sauropelta'': Ostrom wasn’t aware of, but started the trend to name ankylosaurs with the suffix –pelta. Also Early Cretaceous was ''Silvisaurus'', a smaller relative. With its 7.5 long body, ''Sauropelta'' was the biggest nodosaurid known, had long lateral spikes (expecially long on the shoulders) and the back covered with small mosaic-like scutes - the typical nodosaurian armor, very different to that of ''Ankylosaurus'' made by wide rows put in line on the upper body. In 1988, famous paleontologist Bob Bakker described a shattered skull which has later revealed to be from ''Edmontonia''. Named “Denversaurus” from the capital of Colorado (Bakker’s state), it might have given its name to the hero of [[Denver, the Last Dinosaur|a famous TV dino-cartoon]] broadcast just in those years.

* Since the 1990s, the classic “nodosaurid” / “ankylosaurid” bipartition has fallen down: many nodosaurids have revealed not to be related with ''Sauropelta'' or ''Edmontonia''. Among them, the “polacanthines” (''Polacanthus'' and ''Hylaeosaurus''). Just in those years, new polacanthines were found in USA. The first one, following the trend to name ankylosaurs with –pelta, was called ''Mymoorapelta'' (the first North American ankylosaur from Late Jurassic, lived alongside [[Stock Dinosaurs|Stegosaurus Allosaurus Diplodocus]] etc.) Also from the same fauna was the coolly-named ''Gargoyleosaurus''. But the most striking discover was from Early Cretaceous, the Utahraptor age: ''Gastonia''. Still another ankylosaur with the name ending in -a. Indeed this is the dino group with the greatest number of names ending so, giving them a [[Animal Motifs|bizarre “feminine” sound for these bulky “tanks”]]... Found in 1998, ''Gastonia'' impressed researchers because of its armor, filled with long spikes pointing to all directions. Some people have hailed it as [[Up to Eleven|the most armored animal ever existed on Earth]]: in short, a perfect opponent for the neighboring ''Utahraptor''. [[Rule of Cool|Indeed]], ''Gastonia'' fights the giant dromeosaurid in the [[Documentary of Lies]] ''[[Jurassic Fight Club]]'', and ends the battle as [[Badass|the victor]].

* Despite this example, non-stock ankylosaurs (and stegosaurs) are usually ignored in visual media. Maybe their reputation of “slow and foolish” has done its part, even though this fame is undeserved. A good example of missed opportunity was a small ankylosaur discovered in Australia, with one of the least dinosaurian name one could imagine: ''Minmi''. <ref> There is a backstory however: ''Minmi'' comes from “Minmi Crossing”, the locality in which its first skeleton has been discovered.</ref> Discovered in 1980, this is the most complete Australian dinosaur to date, and yet it has not appeared in [[Walking with Dinosaurs|Spirits of the Ice Forests]] in which the much less-complete ''Leaellynasaura'' and even the “polar allosaur” appear (despite being their contemporary). Once considered nodosaurid, today ''Minmi'' is thought a primitive, hard-to-classify ankylosaur, perhaps with some bony plates even in its belly (a rare thing among ankylosaurs). It was also the first ankylosaur ever found in the southern emisphere, but was steadily reached by a second animal in 1986, another primitive ankylosaur, this time discovered in Antarctica. This one was the very first dinosaur ever discovered in the Ice Continent, yet has had to expect ''twenty years'' to be named: ''Antarctopelta''. Nonetheless, the most awesome case regarding naming questions comes from Jurassic China: “Jurassosaurus nedegoapeferima”. The first term [[Captain Obvious|is a straight omage to Spielberg]]; the other is formed from the surnames of the film's main stars: [[Sam Neill]], [[Laura Dern]], [[Jeff Goldblum]], Sir [[Richard Attenborough]], [[Bob Peck]], [[Martin Ferrero]], [[Ariana Richards]], and [[Joseph Mazzello]]. Even though the genus is now known as ''Tianchisaurus'', it still keeps its bizarre species name. Well, it’s true, ankylosaurs really have some of the most awesome names within the dinosaur world.

The outsider: ''[[wikipedia:Scelidosaurus|Scelidosaurus]]''

[[Category:UsefulPrehistoric NotesLife]]