World’s Most Armored Dinosaur

It was the world’s most armored dinosaur, until evolution did something strange.

Fossils found in Morocco have revealed that the armored body of Spicomellus was also covered in bone spikes that reached nearly a meter in length. The preserved remains are dated to more than 165 million years ago. They also show that the animal lost some of its armor as it evolved.

Spicomellus had a multitude of plates and spikes all over its body. These included meter-long neck spikes, huge spikes projecting upwards over the hips, and a range of long, blade-like spikes.

Spicomellus was a type of ankylosaur, which were heavily armored herbivores with bony skins similar to turtles. They lived from the Middle Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous period but went extinct 66 million years ago when a comet wiped out most dinosaurs.

Sometimes described as ‘walking coffee tables’, ankylosaurs were four-legged, squat and under 10 feet in length.

Usually, species become better at defending themselves over time. But this discovery showed that ankylosaurs lost some of their protection, despite their environment being more dangerous in the Cretaceous period. This particular fossil is the oldest known ankylosaur. Scientists thought that later species might have inherited similar features, but they didn’t. Therefore, experts believe the fearsome variety of spikes may have actually been used for attracting mates and showing off to rivals rather than for defense.

In later species, the spikes are gone, having been replaced by flat plates, which were likely used only for defense. The scientists speculate that as larger and more fearsome predators evolved, ankylosaur armor became simpler, less showy, and more defensive. This suggests they wanted to draw less attention to themselves.

The end of Spicomellus’ tail hasn’t been found, but some of the vertebrae have been fused together, which suggests it had a club or similar tail weapon.

 

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Armored Dinosaur had a Bulletproof Vest

Many dinosaurs relied on plate armor to keep them safe from predators. But one went so far as to grow a ‘bulletproof vest’ over its plate armor. The best-preserved dinosaur fossil on record is a type of ankylosaur called a nodosaur. The nodosaur was a herbivore that grew 18 feet long and lived 110 to 112 million years ago. One of these fossils was so well preserved, scientists were able to determine the strength of its keratin plates and the bony spikes that covered them. It is estimated that the nodosaur could survive a crash with an F150 pickup that was going at speed.

Usually, only the bony spikes remained on other armored dinosaur fossils, because keratin (dead cells that form structures like hair and fingernails) doesn’t fossilize well. So when paleontologists studied armored dinosaurs in the past, they assumed the main protection came from the bony structures, which they thought might have been covered by a thin layer of keratin like a turtle shell.

In 2017, an exceptionally well-preserved fossil was discovered in a mine in Alberta, Canada. The fossil was so well preserved that researchers could analyze the color of its armor and even look into its stomach to see its last meal.

There was a keratin layer over the bones, but it was much thicker than anticipated. It was over 6 inches thick in some places. The keratin sheath over a modern cattle horn is only 0.6 inches thick. The keratin sheath would allow for flexibility and could easily be removed if it got damaged. It would be like trimming a broken nail instead of needing to heal a broken bone.

This armor could withstand much more force than predators of the time could deliver, which suggests the armor may have been used during fights between males who were vying for female mates.

This research also reveals new insight into dinosaur armor in general. It is likely that other armored dinosaurs also had thick keratin sheaths. And those with armored and weaponized faces and heads were probably using a lot more keratin than is normally modeled.

 

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