Aleto Delta
| Aleto Delta | ||||||||||||
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Live reconstruction of Aletopelta Coombsi |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Upper Cretaceous (late Campanium ) | ||||||||||||
| 76.4 to 72 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Aleto Delta | ||||||||||||
| Ford & Kirkland , 2001 | ||||||||||||
| Art | ||||||||||||
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Aletopelta is a genus of the bird pelvis dinosaur (Ornithischia) from the group of the Ankylosauria .
features
Aletopelta was a medium-sized ankylosaur with an estimated length of four meters, which is known from an incomplete skeleton find. Individual teeth, parts of the shoulder girdle, pelvis, limbs, individual ribs and vertebrae as well as numerous bone plates ( osteoderms ) were found. As with all Ankylosauria, the hull of Aletopelta was covered with armor made of bone plates. The pelvic region was provided with a shield of interconnected, polygonal plates and on the shoulder region it had thicker plates and also spines. The neck and tail were also protected by osteoderms. Like all Ankylosauria, it was a stocky dinosaur that moved quadruped (four-legged). The limbs were short and strong; the thighbones , which were significantly longer than the lower legs, are striking . The skull of this dinosaur is not known, only individual teeth have been preserved, they were remarkably wide. Like all ankylosaurs, the Aletopelta fed on plants.
Discovery and naming
The fossil remains of Aletopelta were discovered in the Point Loma Formation near Carlsbad in the south of the US state of California and first described in 2001 . The finds come from marine sediments, but like all ankylosaurs , the Aletopelta lived on the mainland - the carcass was probably washed into the sea after the animal died. The name goes back to the Greek words aletes ("wandering") and pelta ("shield"), type species and the only known species is A. coombsi .
The finds are dated in the Upper Cretaceous (late Campanium ) to an age of around 76 to 72 million years.
Systematics
The systematic classification of the Aletopelta within the Ankylosauria is controversial. Originally it was thought to be a representative of the Nodosauridae , but the first descriptors classify it in the Ankylosauridae due to the shape of the bone plates . Other sources consider the findings to be too sparse for a precise classification.
supporting documents
- Matthew K. Vickaryous, Teresa Maryańska , David B. Weishampel : Ankylosauria. In: David B. Weishampel, Peter Dodson , Halszka Osmólska (eds.): The Dinosauria . 2nd edition. University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 2004, ISBN 0-520-24209-2 , pp. 363-392.
Individual evidence
- ^ Dougal Dixon : The World Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Lorenz, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-7548-1730-7 , p. 378.