Sauropelta

Sauropelta edwardsorum

Sauropelta was one of the largest nodosaurid ankylosaurs from the Early Cretaceous. It had large, cone-shaped shoulder spines for defense. Unlike club-tailed ankylosaurs, nodosaurids relied on their armor and spikes rather than tail weapons.

Physical Description

Measurement	Value	Human Scale
Comprimento	5.2 m	roughly the length of a large SUV
Height	1.5 m	—
Peso	1.5 t	comparable to 1.5 small cars

Diet & Feeding

Herbivore

Sauropelta was a plant-eating dinosaur. Herbivores typically fed on ferns, cycads, conifers, and other vegetation available during their era. Many herbivorous dinosaurs developed specialized teeth and digestive systems for processing tough plant material.

Time Period

Cretaceous Early Mesozoic Era

Sauropelta lived during the Cretaceous Early period of the Mesozoic Era, approximately 145,0 to 100,5 million years ago.

The Cretaceous saw continued dinosaur evolution with the rise of ornithopods and early ceratopsians. Flowering plants first appeared and began to transform terrestrial ecosystems. Spinosaurus and other large theropods lived during this time.

Discovery & Naming

Nomeado por	John Ostrom
Ano de descoberta	1970
Local de descoberta	Cloverly Formation, Montana, USA

Classificação

Dinosauria → Ornithischia → Thyreophora → Ankylosauria → Sauropelta

Fused lizards

Heavily armored herbivorous dinosaurs covered in bony osteoderms. Many had tail clubs used as defensive weapons. Ankylosaurus was the largest, reaching 10 meters long.